The situation of women in India, especially uneducated and non-working ones is not unknown to most of us. It is also known that various policies have been made/ implemented for the betterment of women. Quotas in Government jobs, panchayats, subsidy for girl child education, subsidy to parents having girl child are some of them. Not all methods have worked directly for women empowerment but they have given them freedom in some ways and have saved them for life in others.
We implement policies thinking they are going to change the society. Hundreds of articles/ papers are written on the possible success of that policy, once implemented. Although after implementation we face newer/ fresh challenges. Take for example, the quota of women in panchayat. We expected it to be a big hit, the only problem envisaged before was, women might be less forthcoming. The women were indeed less forthcoming. It took them sometime to come around. But why did they come around? Was it because they wanted to be the member of panchayat/ become sarpanch or their husbands wanted the power they never had/ can have? Then these policies which should have sufficient need more support to cut the cord of that vicious circle. The initiatives like The Hunger project was needed to help this policies actually get implemented in the right way.
Take another example, the Beti Padhao Beti Bachao scheme launched by Haryana government. Haryana is one of the states, which has highly skewed sex ratio. The scheme allows the families of girl child to redeem Rs. 25,000 bond when the girl turns 18, for education. Bad news, 53% of the people are using it for their marriages. The initiative on its own intended to give the girls' education (i.e. higher education). The money, on the other hand is given to the greedy grooms who would look at these girls as a source of decent sum of money or better dowry! Again the policy remains at the mercy of the not the beneficiary but everyone else!
Take another (indirect) example, the free contraceptive distribution. This initiative didn't directly helped in women empowerment. The intent is to check the population growth and maternal and child mortality due to uncontrolled pregnancies resulting in deaths.The indirect effect, (expected) was that, women will have a say in choosing how many children they want. They will not be at the mercy of fate. Everyone realized how strong the opposition is from their husbands in using condoms and the approach wasn't as successful. Then the idea of pills was floated and it was comparatively more successful as this was at the discretion of women. In a way it improved their condition only where they were not pushed and forced by the in-laws not to use such practices. Now world over, there are pressures on India to include other contraception methods apart from (permanent) sterilization, condoms, pills and IUDs. There are further pressures to include injectibles. It has been quite a success with a lot of women who want to choose a method which they can keep hidden from their families. But owing to its side effects government isn't sure about including them in the list. What Indian Government will do is secondary, the more pressing issue is that women need choices that they can hide from their own families to live a life of their choice, whatever be the side effects!
These are not all. There are issues related to sexual violence, female foeticide, rapes to name a few. All these issues and policies go back to the way women think and how freely they can operate in their environment. Most of the time, they are at the mercy of the people they live with, and call them their family. The acceptance and use of policies in the right way depend on the fact that if they are allowed to make use of policies made for them and if they have any say in choosing the options available to them. Then probably more policies, more initiatives are needed because one policy/ one initiative opens the Pandora box. It opens new set of problems and challenges. All this seems like a vicious circle of being oppressed and being a woman!
Thanks Pragya for all these insights.....indeed these policies and changes have not had the desired effect and may be they need to be looked at and learned from such that similar such policies in the future can be more robust and provide more holistic solutions....
ReplyDeleteThanks Pragya for all these insights.....indeed these policies and changes have not had the desired effect and may be they need to be looked at and learned from such that similar such policies in the future can be more robust and provide more holistic solutions....
ReplyDeleteThanks Surbhi. A great thought has to go into this to find what can be done to break this vicious circle
DeleteHi! Pragya, you have raised right questions. But, is making policies would solve this? Most of the women have accepted this as their destiny but they have forgotten that their destiny is in their hands only. Change in this situation definitely needs a generation time. Women (and Men too - but most won't do it) at home need to sensitize their male kids towards the equality of gender but in reality it happens just opposite. I remember how my parents raised me and my elder sister. We were always taught about equality and the result of this upbringing was my stand on gender issues. A very small example - one of my female batchmates used a Hindi cuss word during a discussion and it became a subject of laughter amongst boys gang and my genuine reaction for them was if we boys can free use this word then why can' she? If you are labeling her as characterless then we all are equally characterless. This one sentence had a positive impact and most of them said yes I was right.
ReplyDeletewhy I told this story? To tell that future of our society is in our hands. Some changes can happen quickly but most need simple but continuous efforts.
You are right Rohit. Thats what I am trying to say. It is not just policies because the real effect takes place at home. We are the prisoners of our own families and loved ones and only they can help us be free, be it man or a woman!
Delete