6. An Analysis of Women’s Current Situation

According to Census-2011, India has reached the population of 1210 million, as against 301 million in 1951, of which 58, 64, 69,174 (48.5 %) were females. The population of India accounted for 17.5% of the total world population and occupied second place. The sex ratio was 930 in 1971 and it has increased to 940 according to 2011 Census. The female literacy also increased from 18.3% in 1961 to 74.0% in 2011 and a decrease in male-female literacy gap from 26.6% in 1981 to 16.7 per cent in 2011.

Women empowerment in India is heavily dependent on many different variables that include geographical location (rural/urban), educational status, social status (caste and class) and age. Policies on women empowerment exist at national, state and local levels in many sectors including health, education, economic opportunities, gender based violence and political participation. The scope and coverage of the schemes launched has been expanding that include initiatives for economic and social empowerment of women and for securing gender equality. The following schemes at present are aiming at women empowerment and gender equality in India:

♤ Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) (1975)

♤ Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls (RGSEAG) (2010)

♤ The Rajiv Gandhi National Crèche Scheme for Children of Working Mothers.

♤ Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) (2009-10)

♤ Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP)

♤ Dhanalakshmi (2008)

♤ Short Stay Homes

♤ Swadhar

♤ Ujjawala (2007)

♤ Scheme for Gender Budgeting (XI Plan)

♤ National Mission for Empowerment of Women

♤ Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (1993)

♤ Beti Bachao Beti Padao

♤ SABLA-Scheme for Adolescent Girls

In spite of the above schemes and programmes, there are significant gaps between policy achievements and actual practice at the community level. The Global Gender Gap Index (2017) ranking of the country has fallen from 87 in 2016 to 108 in 2017 out of 144 countries according to the recent report of the World Economic Forum. According to the 2017 report, India has closed 67% of its gender gap, but this is less than many of its neighbours such as Bangladesh, which ranked 47, and China, which was placed 100. Also, on an average 66% of women’s work in India is unpaid, compared to 12% of men’s. India’s greatest challenges were in the economic participation and opportunities for women. India did not perform too well in the health and survival pillar either. India, however, fully closed the gap in primary and secondary education enrolment for the second year in a row.