The Socio Economic Dimensions of Women in India

Abstract

The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Indian constitution in its preamble Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles. The First Prime Minister of India stated that when the women moves forward, the family moves, the village moves, and the Nation moves. Within the framework of a democratic policy, our Laws, development policies, and programs have aimed at women's advancement on different spheres. From the Fifth Five Year Plan (1974-78) onwards, there has been a remarkable shift in the approach to women's issues from welfare to development. In recent years, the empowerment of women has been recognized as the central issue in determining the status of women. The National Commission for women was set up by an act of Parliament in 1990 to safeguard the right on legal entitlements of women. The 73rd and 74th Amendments (1993) to the Constitution of India have provided for reservation seats in the local bodies of Panchayats and Municipalities for Women, laying a strong foundation for their participation in decision making at the local levels. I. Introduction: Social development is inclusive of economic development and emphasizes on political and cultural aspects also. Entrepreneurship among women has been a resent concern and has become a force to attain empowerment. During the past few decades the political of women are being uplifted in the form of entrepreneurship by setting up small and medium scale enterprises, not only confining to urban areas, but also in rural areas. Unleashing various barriers, Indian women are striking a balance between traditional values of the society in transition through playing dual responsibility at home and at the work place. The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Indian constitution in its preamble Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles. The First Prime Minister of India stated that when the women moves forward, the family moves, the village moves, and the Nation moves. Within the framework of a democratic policy, our Laws, development policies, and programs have aimed at women's advancement on different spheres. From the Fifth Five Year Plan (1974-78) onwards, there has been a remarkable shift in the approach to women's issues from welfare to development. In recent years, the empowerment of women has been recognized as the central issue in determining the status of women. The National Commission for women was set up by an act of Parliament in 1990 to safeguard the right on legal entitlements of women. The 73 rd and 74 th Amendments (1993) to the Constitution of India have provided for reservation seats in the local bodies of Panchayats and Municipalities for Women, laying a strong foundation for their participation in decision making at the local levels. India has also ratified various international conventions and human rights instrument committing to secure equal rights for women. Key among them is the ratification of the Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women CEDAW-1975 in 1993. The Mexico plan of Action (1975). The Nairobi Forward looking strategies (1985). The Beijing Declaration as well as the Platform for Action (1995), has been unreservedly endorsed by India for appropriate follow up. The women's movement with a widespread network of Non-Government Organizations which have strong grass roots presence and deep insight into women's concerns has inspired many initiatives for the empowerment of women. However, there still exists a wide gap between the goals enunciated in the constitution, legislation, policies, plans, programs, and related mechanisms on the one hand the situational reality of the status of women in India, on the other. This has been analyzed extensively in the Report of the committee on the status of women in India, towards Equality (1974), and highlighted in the National perspective plan for women (1988-2000), and the Shramshakti Report (1988).