Has the Indian woman finally “arrived”?
India is poised to be come an economic giant. But what is the status of women
and the weaker sections of the society? Have the strides in economy not percolated down to the masses? It looks so. . The percentage of people below poverty line has not substantially increased. And the status of women not undergone any real change as we shall see shortly. l.
The data of the National Family Health Survey which involved 1.25 lakhs women across 29 states, are very disturbing. 57.8% or more women in this country are anemic- a consequence of lack of nutrition and neglect of health problems. Among the married women, the percentage has risen from 52% to 57 % in about a decade (starting from 1998) This is an unacceptably high figure for a country which is claiming to be on the verge of becoming a global giant.
The statistics of the Nathional Crime Record Bureau ( as per its website for 2006) is still more alarming. .The dowry deaths have gone up by 12.2 % while that related to rape by 5.4 %. The figures of dowry related crimes is really disturbing.. The crimes against women at home, from husband or relative, have shot up too. Some states like Andhra Pradesh gas the highest prevalence of these and the other states follow suit.
Many media outlets claim that there is a noticeable change in her status and that she displays a new confidence these days. Even then should we believe this? Should we applaud? Wait a minute. Let us check the facts.
May be there is feeling of euphoria in the urban areas. But the rural folk , by far the
majority, are still treading their old ways, bearing a number of unplanned children, doing the unpaid
household works, nor being able to have a say on her life or future and leading a murky and a pathetic life.
In a recent survey by Indian Express and CNN-IBN, even the majority of the urban women want to work outside the house, implying that they are still not able to do it.
Even those who were woking were not paid equal wages as men. And a large number complained that they were harassed at work. Their work outside and bringing an income did not absolve them of their unpaid work (routine household chores like washing, cleaning, cooking and tending to children). Further, they were not able to decide on the income from the work they did extra! Only one in five of the single women surveyed conveyed that they could decide on the basic question of marriage.
Women want to earn by herself, get respect, and want a lot of autonomy. But all these remain mere dreams even for the urbanites. The question of the rural women are sp deplorable that they are still two or three centuries behind compared to their counter parts in the advanced countries.