Women Empowerment Programmes in IndiaDr. R.V. Gangshetty
Lecturer Dept. of Economics Karnataka State Womens University
Bijapur E-mail: [email protected]
Index
Introduction Definition of Women's Empowerment Role of women in
economic development Need for Women Empowerment Women Empowerment
Programmes Conclusion
I. Introduction Women can play a decisive role in the economic
development of a country. Her contribution to economic development
is great and is both in the visible and invisible form. If she is
transformed from being primarily a vehicle of human reproduction,
producing biological goods, to a vehicle of social, cultural and
economic good, she can certainly create wonders.
II. Definition of Women's Empowerment The Oxford American
Dictionary defines "empowerment" as "to make (someone) stronger and
more confident, esp. in controlling their life and claiming their
rights." It means to give women power and help them face the
challenges of being a woman in society.
III. Role of Women in Economic DevelopmentChief architect of
family The first teacher Supply of labour power Main role in
agricultural development Contribution to Industrial labour force
are women Service sector development
Socio-cultural development Efficient administration Progress of
handicrafts Political Development Supply of Skill and Intelligence
Creation of civilized society Improvement in production
efficiency
Chief architect of family: She works in different capacities in
the family like mother, guide, mentor, counselor, friend, and
philosopher. Creation of happy homes is her unique contribution.
The first teacher: Mother is the first teacher. She teaches her
children the basic elements of life. Supply of labour power: Women
supply necessary labour power for the production of goods and
services. Main role in agricultural development: Women till the
field, bring water at irrigation, cook the meals and do all sorts
of work. They lend helping hand during the busy agricultural
season.
Contribution to Industrial labour force are women: labour force
have achieved tremendous industrial development. Nowadays women are
active in various types of industrial activities. Service sector
development: service sector like health, education, trade, banking,
insurance, tourism, telecommunications, transport, research and
development etc., Socio-cultural development: In the socio-cultural
development of a country, a crucial central position is assigned to
women folk. They are the real ambassadors of art and culture.
Efficient administration:women generally are more efficient and
less corrupt than men. Their devotion of work is certainly
unquestionable. Progress of handicrafts: skill, intelligence,
creativity and artful mind will certainly be helpful for the
development of handicraft industry. Political Development: Women
can be involved well in the policy and decision making process.
local bodies like village panchayats, municipalities, city
corporations and district bodies and also in various other bodies
like cooperative institutions, milk societies, self help groups
etc.
Supply of Skill and Intelligence: Women can also supply
necessary skill and intelligence for economic development. She can
work as a labourer manager, entrepreneur and as industrialist.
Creation of civilized society: Women can play a role in the
creation of a civilized society. Women not only perform the tasks
well but they lend grace as well. They are capable of moulding the
very character of the society. Improvement in production
efficiency: Women can contribute a lot to economic development by
improving production efficiency of a country.
IV. Need for Women Empowerment Our constitution, in its
Fundamental Rights, has provisions for equality, social justice and
protection of women. These goals are yet to be realized. Women
continue to be discriminated, exploited and exposed to inequalities
at various levels. By empowerment women would be able to develop
self esteem and confidence, realize their potential and enhance
their collective bargaining power. Women empowerment can be viewed
as a contribution of several inter- related and mutually
reinforcing competent.
Awareness building about womens situations, discrimination,
rights and opportunities will act as a step towards gender
equality. Capacity building and skill development,
especially the ability to plan, make decisions, organize, manage
and execute will enable to deal with people and institutions in the
course of business. 6. Participation and greater control and
decision making power in the home, community and society will
develop leadership qualities. 7. Action is needed at all levels to
bring about greater quality between men and women.
V. Women Empowerment Programmes Swayamsidha Swa-Shakti Project
Support to Training and employment Programme for Women (STEP)
Swalamban Creches/ Day care Centers for the Children of working and
Ailing Mothers Hostels for working women Swadhar Rashtriya Mahila
kosh (RMK)
Women Empowerment Programmes Introduction As per the 2001
census, women constituted about 48 per cent of the total population
of the country. Women suffer many disadvantages compared to men.
Education, Labour Larticipation rate and Earnings. The Government
has been implementing various schemes for the socio-economic
advancement National Policy for Empowerment of Women ( 2001)
ensuring women their rightful place in society by empowering them
as agents of socio - economic change. Now, it is an important
approach adopted for development of women under Eleventh Five Year
Plan (2007-12).
The major strategies of women empowerment isEconomic empowerment
and Gender justice. Two important schemes in the areas of education
i.e., Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Mahila Samakhya.
Policy and Programmes1. Swayamsidha:
It is an integrated project for the development and empowerment
of women through Self Help Groups (SHGs) with emphasis on covering
service, developing access to microenterprises. allotted so far and
about 10 lakh women have taken membership. 2. Swa-Shakti Project:
Earlier known as the Rural Womens Development and Empowerment
Project, was sanctioned in October 1998 as centrally sponsored
scheme to be implemented in the states of Bihar. Chattisgarh,
Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttaranchal
and Uttar Pradesh.
3. Support to Training and employment Programme for Women
(STEP): The programme seeks to provide updated skills and new
knowledge to poor assetless women in eight traditional sectors of
employment, agriculture, animal husbandry, dairying, fisheries,
handlooms, handcrafts, Khadi and Village industry and sericulture.
Eleven projects were sanctioned during minimum period of three
years. Eleven projects were sanctioned during 2003-2004, which is
estimated to benefit 16,350 women.
4. Swalamban:
The objective of this scheme is To provide training and skills
to women to facilitate them to obtain employment or self employment
on a sustainable basis training like computer programming , medical
transcription, electronic assembling, consumer electronics repair,
radio and television repairs, garment making, handloom weaving,
handicrafts, secretarial practice, community health work and
embroidery. During 2003-04, 463 proposals were approved, benefiting
71,240 women.
5. Creches/ Day care Centers for the Children of working and
Ailing Mothers: Scheme aims to provide day care services to
children (0-5 years) of parents whose income does not exceed
Rs.1,800 per month. 6. Hostels for working women: The scheme of
assistance for construction and expansion of hostel buildings for
working women, with day care centers, is being implemented since
1972. The scheme envisages provisions for safe and affordable
accommodation to working women ( single working women, Women
working at places away from their hometowns, working but husband
out of town, etc.).
7.Swadhar: This scheme was launched in 2001-2002 as a central
sector scheme for providing holistic and integrated services to
women in difficult circumstances . 8. Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK):
Also known as the National Credit Fund for Women was set up as a
registered society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 on
March 30, 1993. Credit support or micro-finance to poor women to
start income generating activities such as in Dairy Agriculture
Shop-keeping Vending and Handicrafts.
In 2003-04, an amount of Rs.25 crore was sanctioned through RMK
benefiting about 32,765 women.
VI. ConclusionWomen plays important role in the socio-economic
development of country, but since generation she has been neglected
a lot. So in 21st century there is a need for the women empowerment
to attain highest level of socio-economic growth. In this direction
several policies and programmes have been introduced by the
Government of India. So these programmes play important role in the
women upliftment. But, the effective implementation part has to be
taken care of to make women more independent.
Thank You
