A Paradigm Shift In The Quality Of Lives of Women In India

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A paradigm shift in the quality of lives of women in India

A Paradigm Shift In The Quality Of Lives Of Women In India

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Sambad English Bureau Published On : Mar 8, 2022

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By Dr Aiswarya Biswal*

International Women’s Day is a day celebrated across the globe for ‘being a woman’ and many themes have been given due diligence in different times over the years. This year’s theme is ‘Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow’.

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It would be quite apt to proclaim that India is marching ahead successfully to empower its women, who make almost 50% of the population, in every sector and all walks of life — from self help groups to CEOs of Fortune 500 companies to piloting the aircraft both in civil and defence sectors with examples numerous. The recent reports of National Family Health Survey (NHFS) -5 has suggested many such developmental achievements that India was struggling to achieve in the past since its independence where the progress has been sluggish at best in truly empowering women.

The importance of providing a toilet to millions of families where women had to wait for the sun down to attend to nature calls, has carved a niche in grassroots, empowering women and young girls while bringing a cultural transformation in society about open defecation and eliminating it completely shows with intention, resources and political will to empowerment of society especially, can take place and that too rapidly bringing positive changes in our ever-progressing society. Within a span of seven years, a staggering six lakh villages in India are proud to be declared Open Defecation Free (ODF), simultaneously 11.5 crore toilets are being made, which gave parity of esteem in gender equality to the women folks of India. The numbers of house-hold improved sanitation has gone up from mere 48.5% in NHFS-4 to over 70% in NHFS-5, which is a humongous leap in such a short span of time.

During this period, and also a matter of great pride to rejoice for everyone in the country that for the first time women have outnumbered men in terms of population ratio. There are now 1020 women for every 1000 men in NHFS-5. This ratio was earlier 991 women to 1000 men in NHFS-4. A spectacular achievement which pragmatically shows that women are being valued in our country and can be safely interpreted that at grass root level in our patriarchal society there is slow but significant change in the mindset about girl child in the family though this change is not uniform but with wide variations in different parts of the country across the north-south divide.

Today India is successfully promoting the education of women at all levels and around 72% of women are literate according to NFHS-5 data. This was around 52% in 2001 census. Though progress has been made significantly albeit slowly, the variations at different states are wide and urgent action needs to be taken especially by the states at the bottom of the list. However, it is pleasing to say that even in rural India the literacy rate among the women are on the rise suggestive of the transformational change taking place in the Indian society among the women who are more aware of her rights while slowly but steadily coming out of the patriarchal shadows.

Today, many would acknowledge the paradigm shift in empowering women in India and the benefits of ongoing women empowering policies like Jan Dhan Yojana (opening crores of bank accounts), PM Ujjwala Yojana (Providing LPG to women from marginalised sectors), Beti Bachao Beto Padhao (awareness of need of girl child), Suknya Samridhi Yojana (encourage saving of money for girl child), Nari shakti Puruskar (honouring women who contributed for women empowerment), One Stop Centre (supporting women who were subjected to women based violence), STEP (providing skills to generate women employment), Mahila -E- Haat (online marketing facilities for women entrepreneurs) and many more such policies have transformed the lives of Indian women due to better last mile delivery at the grass root level and increasingly women are being recognised for their potential in every field.

 

 

*The author is the National Secretary of Mahila Morcha, BJP India

Nutrition, Poverty And Women Power

An anganwadi worker in Odisha’s poorest tribal district epitomises how change can, and must begin from the grassroots

Aiswarya Biswal | May 15, 2020

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Over the years, India has made major strides in various fields such as space, healthcare, information technology, and engineering. Women have been at the forefront of many of these advances, and it makes me proud to see the saree-clad women scientists of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) being instrumental in the success of Chandrayan (Mission to Moon) and Mangalyaan (Mission to Mars), and the rising number of women CEOs and entrepreneurs.

However, these success stories are few and far between in a nation of 1.2 billion, with women comprising almost half that number. At the bottom of our society, women are discriminated against, harassed and abused on a daily basis. A large chunk of them are denied access to education, undernourished, and suffer from abject poverty. And this shows particularly during pregnancy and childbirth, or what is called the 1000 day window during which mother and child need the most attention and nourishment. More than 1 in 4 women are married before they are 18, continuing a viciouscycle of early marriage, early pregnancy and not being able to regain health post pregnancy due to undernourishment.

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Almost 45 crore, or a third of our population, comprise children, making India home to the largest number of children in the world. Together, women and children comprise almost 70 per cent of our population.

Despite largescale improvements in our country since Independence, malnutrition among women and children continues to remain very high, contributing significantly to their morbidity (illness) and mortality (death). Malnutrition in children often affects their susceptibility to illness and chances of survival. If they survive, it also makes them less productive in later life due to associated poor health and disability which continues for the rest of life.

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According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS 4), a staggering 40% of Indian children are underweight and stunted for their age. There is also a stark rural urban divide, with rural
children being more impacted than their urban counterparts.

According to a recent Malnutrition report by NITI Aayog, a whopping 60% of Indian children are anaemic due to malnutrition, and suffer from iron, vitamin and mineral deficiency as well as infections such as hookworm. In adults, over 20% are undernourished, more so in states like Bihar and Odisha and less in states such as Kerala and Punjab.

According to World Health Organisation (WHO) a significant amount of malnutrition is associated with lack availability of safe drinking water, especially in rural areas and lack of proper sanitation and hygiene. Availability of safe drinking water and access to sanitation and hygiene remains a key challenge. Sanitation is also associated with cultural and behavioural change in the society which can only be possible with the policy of education and awareness as well as mass participation of public, social and corporate sector, government and other voluntary organisations.

Due to its geographic location Odisha is prone to natural disasters such as heavy rains, floods, cyclones, and droughts. This ensuing loss of harvest and livestock pushes the rural poor into deep poverty, aggravating the already entrenched malnutrition among impoverished families, especially women and children. The lack of education is another factor behind malnutrition of women and children.

My recent visit to Gajapati district of Odisha and meeting people mostly tribal women in small towns such as Chandragiri village of Mohana Block was an eye opener. Gajapati is a picturesque hilly district in southern Odisha, with a population of about 6 lakh, mostly tribals. The district literacy rate of 45 per cent (even less among the tribals), compared to the state average of 73%, is among the lowest in India . The district is mostly agrarian, and lack of work forces a significant number of people to seek employment in other towns and cities. Although there are two district hospitals and some primary health care centres, there is no medical college or private hospitals.

Saura or Savaras are the main tribal communities in the district, and like other tribals in India, they face problems of economic exclusion and are often exploited as labour for mining and other industries.

During my trip, I met a pleasant young Anganwadi worker Sasmita Dalai. Empowered with nothing more than basic education and a determination to bring a change, Sasmita is was challenging the deep rooted prejudices and practices in the tribal society, promoting health awareness and other social benefits which the poor tribals are unaware of.

The life expectancy of tribals in the district is 3- 5 years less than the average of 67 years. Although a recent government report says the percentage of tribal children suffering from
malnutrition in India has dropped from 55% to 42% in 2015-16, tribal children continue to be the most malnourished when compared to other social groups.

One of the main problems Sasmita faces is the rising rate of alcoholism. Country liquor, (locally known as Handia) and tobacco impacts the already precarious health conditions of the population, making them prone to malaria, tuberculosis and leprosy. It also leads to a significant rise in domestic abuse and violence.

To bring about real change in the tribal population, the policies and interventions must be culturally sensitive and community driven. Autonomy and access to education, health and other state benefits should be provided to them on an urgent basis. And most importantly, local leaders such as Sasmita and others must be supported and encouraged. Because only then will we see women power coming up from the grass-roots, benefiting society and the country as a whole.

(The author is a dental surgeon with an MSc in Human Resource Management from University of Liverpool, UK.)

International Day of the Girl child: Are we truly empowering the girls and women of the society?

International Day of the Girl child: Are we truly empowering the girls and women of the society?

In 2011, United Nations declared October 11^th as the ‘International Day of the Girl child’, to recognise their rights and gender parity in the society. By celebrating the international day for the girl child, the world focuses attention on the daily challenges girls face and how to empower them. Girls have every right like boys to a safe environment, proper education, and healthy life.  According to United Nations there are 101 crore girls in the world and they face a lot of discrimination, violence and abuse in the society on a daily basis. It further states that, somewhere in the world an adolescent girl dies every 10 minutes due to violence.

Over the last many years, India has made many strides in advancing the cause for girl rights. More girls are now literate than ever. Under Government of India’s Swacch Bharat Abhiyan, a lot of focus has been given to building toilets for girls in schools. Rural Sanitation has significantly increased to 70 % from 39% helping many women and giving them dignity and respect. Under Pradhan Mantri Narendra Modi’s Mudra Yojana, nearly 1.8 lakh crore has been distributed, 70% all the beneficiaries are women, which will take the women empowerment to a new level.

Modi Government’s initiative to save and educate the girl child under ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ is focusing on awareness among the Indian citizens to save and to educate the girl child so that nation becomes strong by empowering women. This will help in stopping the ever alarmingly declining girl child sex ratio where there are only 918 girls for every 1000 boys as per the 2011 census. Under this Yojana, a saving scheme named Sukanya Samriddhi account for the girl child has been introduced where the family members can save money for the girl child’s education and marriage where they get good interest rates and without any tax deduction.

Another scheme empowering women from poor families in India is PM ‘Ujjwala Yojana’ where by, government of India provides free cooking gas connections to 5 crore families. According to Petroleum and Natural gas minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, this would benefit crores of women from very poor families preventing them from getting exposed to toxic fumes from burning wood and truly empowering them.

These efforts are though and critical though sustaining the momentum is the key to the long term real time empowerment of every girl child and women of the country.

Data from National Family Health survey states that the Infant mortality rate (IMR) has been significantly reduced in Odisha from 65 in 2005 to 40 in 2016. However, comparing to states such as Kerala (IMR is 12) it is still significantly higher. The Maternal Mortality rate (mothers dying per 1 lakh births) although reduced from 303 in 2004 to 222 in 2015, it is still significantly higher than the national average of 174. According to the Economic survey report, the gender disparity in many human development indices in the state are discouraging such as only 62 % of the female population are literate as compared to the 82% in males.

Every second girl and women in Odisha is Anaemic and one in 4 women suffers from low body weight suggestive of poor nutritional status.

Under the state government programme of Mission Shakti nearly 6 lakh women self-help groups are operating providing them with the economic independence and empowering them is surely a step in the right direction.

Protecting and empowering the women is not only the responsibility of the government but that of every citizen of the state. Unless we provide safe and harassment free environment, proper education, and parity with the boys in training, we cannot achieve true progress in the society. The time has truly come for the society to reflect and act now with utmost urgency. 

Dr. Subramanian Swamy’s  Inaugural Speech at 1st  Virat Hindusthan Sangam Meet; Some Highlights

After addressing the distinguish guests and the other speakers, Dr. swamy welcomes every one to the first meet of VHS. He starts his speech and asks the most vital question about VHS, i.e. Why was VHS necessary? He says that he had a discussion with Sangha leaders and VHP leaders; he has a high appreciation of the work that these institutions are doing in order to mobilise the country against anti national elements and they are therefore working on the ground.

He adds that there is a need to tap a section of our society, which is brought up in English education and has been associated with intellectual activities, but unfortunately they have been propagating views that the westerns want us to propagate. His aspect of the educational system is to create a person, who is not only an Indian in color and in looks but also in propagation and idiom. Though some of us are Indian in looks and location but in views, taste, and outlook we are English man. This phenomenon can be termed as Brown Englishman. He blames the curriculum in our studies that has not been modified post independence. We don’t know our real history, as the books we had been reading in school don’t represent our factual history.

VHS will help creating individuals who have the correct information of our history and should be willing to abide by the truth while defending the truth where necessary. These set of warriors can argue in English any where in the world to show who we really are and we are not who you want us to be.

He further said that some people might not like ‘Om’ but even one of the edition of out look reveals that repetition of ‘Om’ enhances in brain development. A comparative study reveals that persons who chant ‘Om’ have faster brain development then those who do not. Similarly, NASA suggests that their astronauts and staffs have observed that they are able to hear a sound coming from sun. A sound that comes from sun what they call as Hindu’s prayer known as ‘Om’. We cannot hear that sound in here in earth as its frequency is less then 20 mega Hertz, but our rishis with their meditation could hear it.

He says that V.H.S will work for the broader ideological framework of the ‘Sangha Parivar’ as we are all parallels organizations. He said that he thinks that B.J.P is the future for this country and V.H.S will work with it for the development of the country. He further says that he sees a lot of motivation in English speaking, educated population (like engineers, management specialists, etc.) towards nation building. But these people do not know how to argue with the English speaking establishments. To argue with these establishments they do need logic and VHS will help them to generate this logic. This is exactly how V.H.S will change the untruthful perception embedded in our society. He praised Mr Rajiv Malhotra for all his efforts in establishing this truth.

Dr. Swamy then talked about Chandra Sekhar Saraswati, of how he developed a liking towards him and encouraged him to enter in politics. Sri Saraswati usually never spoke about politics but for Dr. Swamy he gave long lectures on foreign policies and politics.

Returning back to V.H.S, he said that his organization would create ‘Intellectual- khatriyas’ or fighters; persons who has a response for every situation. V.H.S uses the word ‘Hindusthan’ instead of ‘Hindu’ as he wants to bring other religious group apart from ‘Hindus’. Dr. Swamy says that, Sivaji’s commandant chief was a Muslim, so we don’t have any hustle to other religion but we give privacy to continue civilization of India, which is Hindu civilization. UNESCO has founded 46 ancient civilizations out of which have 45 disappeared and only surviving civilization is Hindu civilization.

Dr. Swamy says that he had students from royal family of Saudi Arabia while he was at Harvard. Out of them one student once said that, they are puzzled by India due to the fact that despite of having so many languages and differences yet 80% population is Hindu.

He said that in the history of the spread and rise of Islam, they found that every country they have conquered were converted to Islam within short period to 100% e.g. Iraq, Iran, Egypt. But India though was ruled 200years by Christians and 800 years by Islam but still have 80% of Hindu the population. It seems that in every part of India kept fighting to preserve their identity.

Dr. Swamy says that our society gave similar importance to losers who fought bravely as the winners e.g. Shivaji was a great hero and so was Rana Pratap though the later might not have won the battle but fought bravely; he even had to eat chapattis made out of grass as he never surrendered on his principles.

We value the Vijaynagaram Empire, which spread from Karnataka to all over India but in history books little is mentioned about it; they write that it existed in south India even if it lasted 300years. Moghul history from Akbar to Aurangzeb lasted 150 years but still has a chapter in our history books. Subhas Chandra bose lost but still today people are crazy to know what happened to him. A former British Prime Minister said that “we did not leave India due to quit India movement, of course we admire and respected Mahatma Gandhi for his non violent commitment but we were scared because if the men in Indian army refuses to take the orders then we have to pack up our bags and leave India. We left India due to Subhas Chandra Bose even if he lost the war”.

Dr. Swamy further said that V.H.S could get you education that you can’t get through university; what is our correct history? What is the truth of Aryan Dravidian theory? Not only knowing it helps but also one should be able to argue for it. Usually people don’t like arguing with him on these subjects, sometimes they tell lies and run away. Some people ban him because they can’t face him in arguments.

Coming back to the point that why he named the ‘H’ in V.H.S as Hindusthan and not Hindu is due to the fact that he believes, we are Hindu people and those who are not have their ancestors as Hindu. The DNA studies prove that we in India have the same DNA. Brahmans and the Sudras have the same DNA.

In Arunachal Pradesh Thai people came and settled in India, they adopted Hinduism founded the Ahom dynasty, which is the only dynasty that never allow the Mughal, set foot in Assam.

We should not do things to achieve our goal at the cost of the nation. The west has now acknowledged that Sanskrit as the most computer friendly language. If we say here that Sanskrit is a computer friendly language then people will laugh at us but NASA says that they acknowledge it. Concept of Puspak Vihman was being ridiculed in but if some one sees the Vimana Sastra, they prescribe that mercury can be used as a fuel. Scientist says that mercury has the capacity of being a fuel.

We invented calculus, zero, and decimal system. We were a developed country one thousand years ago. So all these facts must go to the modern world. We should have absolute pride of our past but we should not be the prisoner of the past. In new Hindustan we have to modernize, reform and mentally revolutionize it. V.H.S is to strengthen the RSS and the BJP. Mental Renaissance is the need for the country.

Best efforts are taken to reproduce the speech of Dr. Subramanian Swamy. Apologies for any unintended mistake.