India is a developing nation. We have made a global impact in various fields and are known for our diverse culture. Yet, even after all the acquired modernity, half of our population is still subjected to injustice.
Terms like gender equality, women empowerment, and ‘new women’ are ideal concepts, but they seem like a mirage in culturally rich India. The Constitution of India guarantees a place of equality and dignity to women in the country, yet the child-sex ratio continues to decline in the country, hence denying them the most basic of human rights - the right to life. Female feticide is a reflection of a degrading mindset that still discriminates against girls.
Times have changed tremendously. As a nation, we are continuously moving towards economic and social growth. But when it comes to women's representation in society and their rights, we still remain rooted in the past. Over the years, the government of India has introduced various women-empowering schemes such as Beti Bachao Beti Padhao and Sukanya Samriddhi to promote gender equality in society; hitherto, the alarming figures of female mortality rate and female feticide can shake off the mask of modernity and globalization we demonstrate world-wide. This is because the government is slow in reforming personal laws such as providing property rights, guardianship of children in case of divorces, etc. Laws enforced in India for women do not reflect a global social change, such as the Maternity Act, which basically is a reinforcement of the norm that child rearing is only a woman’s responsibility. In other developed nations such as the USA, maternity period is granted for both parents according to the law, which is a statement in itself that taking care of children at home is not just a women’s job. Such empowering rules need to be introduced in India as well so that we can change the very mindset of people and women can pursue their careers and dreams without hindrance or burden of family life.
We can say that the participation of women has increased in various spheres; they have met much resistance from the Indian patriarchal society and continues to do so in everyday life. Hence, it becomes quite obvious and is also a much-debated topic that unless women are present in large numbers in organs of influence, women empowerment policies would keep on lacking. The ‘modern’ woman is continuously trying to break the chains of subservience and is still blocked by rigid male mindsets.
Participation of women in the workforce is the lowest in our country, and there is also a huge disparity between male and female income. Such a gap is created because of unequal access to quality education for girls. Lack of proper education is still a challenge for women in our nation. Though various government schemes like Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and Mid-Day Meal have provided encouragement to opening various schools in villages and rural areas, the attendance of girl students is still lacking. In a household with both a boy and girl child, preference would always be given to the education of the boys as they are supposed to earn a livelihood, whereas girls are made to learn household work for their future as they end up becoming housewives and stay-at-home mothers. Their education is not considered of much importance. Proactive participation of girls in education should be initiated at the very basic level. The importance of girls' education should be made aware of in all households. Then alone can we begin to hope for some results in the making of ‘new women’.
Indian society needs to evolve from a patriarchal to a gender-equal and gender-neutral society. Higher education awareness must be started in remote places to enable girls to realize their potential and achieve their dreams. Reservations for women also need legal and policy-level support to deliver the real ethos behind them.
Indian society also needs to build a slightly unconventional manner regarding the institution of marriage. Women should be allowed to maintain their professional identity. It should be their personal choice. Equal space and opportunities should be granted to individuals regardless of their gender. Also, the concept of a degrading dowry system needs to be altogether pulled out from the wrist of society. A simple ban is not enough; rather steps should be taken at an individual level.
Also, crime against women should have zero tolerance. With no serious action taken against them, offenders often become emboldened and are a threat for much more heinous and shameless acts. Incidents of violence such as those of Nirbhaya and ‘Asifa in major cities of the country highlight that the problem lies in correcting the male mindset more than any other variable, which is only possible through sustained education of all from the very formative years.
‘New women’ is not something that can occur only through some sort of miracle, rather just willingness is needed on a national level to rise above minor, myopic notions and implement them for women’s empowerment. It is time to pay attention to the fact that in India’s quest for development, women are playing a tremendous role in all fields, be it Mary Kom, Deepika Padukone, Saina Nehwal, Sonia Gandhi, Sushma Swaraj, Kiran Desai, who all have won laurels for the country and made a name worldwide.
Hence, we shouldn’t allow gender injustice to be a hurdle in the mission of creating, a new and developed India. ‘New India’ will stand tall when it welcomes its ‘new women’.