According to the United Nations and World Bank, the education of women is one of the most cost-effective means of improving local health conditions. Proper education and training would empower women to take leadership roles in various fields of social and economic activities. After going through this post, you will be able to understand about Empowerment of Women in India.
Empowerment of Women in India
The social return from educating women is higher than that of educating men. It helps in not only improving the work efficiency of women but also improving child health by improving the mother’s literacy.
Major discrimination against women in India occurs in the following areas:
- Health-based discrimination
- Discrimination on the education front
- Discrimination in the workplace
- Discrimination at the household level
Discrimination against women is very common in the labour market of less developed and developing countries. Women enjoy fewer rights than men in a developing economy. Violence against women is also one of the serious problems in an economy. These discriminations against women are called gender-based discrimination in society.
Empowerment of Women in India – Steps taken
To improve the status of women and the welfare of children, the government has taken several steps:
- Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) was launched in 2009–10 to provide a safe and secure environment for the development of needy children.
- Support to Training and Employment Programme (STEP): This scheme was launched in 1987. It
- seeks to train women for employment in traditional occupations such as agriculture, animal husbandry, dairy, handlooms and handicrafts.
- Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY): This scheme was launched in April 2005 with the objective of reducing maternal mortality and infant mortality rates. It encourages delivery at healthcare institutions and makes provision for cash assistance and health care assistance to poor women during the pre-natal delivery and post-natal stages.
- Universal Immunisation Programme: This was launched in November 1985. After the initiation of the programme, there has been a decline of 83% in diphtheria, 83% in whooping cough and 59% in measles. Because of the outbreak of polio in some states in 2006, the pulse polio immunisation programme has received special emphasis since 2007.
- Rajiv Gandhi National Crèche Scheme: This scheme was launched for children of working mothers to provide supplementary nutrition and emergency medicines to children in the age group of 0–6 years.
- Dhan Lakshmi Scheme: This scheme was launched in 2008 for a family of a girl child to provide a cash amount after fulfilling certain conditions.
Birth Control Devices
The regulation of conception by preventive methods or devices to limit the number of offspring is called birth control. There are certain devices to control birth such as condoms, diaphragms, cervical caps, intrauterine devices, and physiological devices.
Child Welfare
The government has implemented the following steps to ensure the welfare of children:
- Sarva Siksha Abhiyan provides elementary education to children in the age group of 6 to 14 years.
- School camps are organised to increase enrolment in elementary education.
- Mid-day meal scheme aims to encourage attendance and retention of children with improved nutritional status.
- The Integrated Child Development Services (ICPS) scheme was launched in 1975 to improve the nutritional and health status of children within the age group of 0–6 years, to lay the foundation for proper physical, psychological and social development of the child and to reduce the incidence of malnutrition and infant mortality rates.
- The Pulse Polio Programme is being implemented at the national level, free of cost so that all children up to five years of age are immunised against polio.
- The Reproductive and Child Health Programme was launched in 1997 to combine fertility regulation, safe motherhood and child survival
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