National Policy for Women 2016

The National policy for Women Empowerment has come a long way since its inception. It has undergone a sedimentary process, incorporating inventory changes so as to suite the changing needs in changing times. In the view of its dynamic nature, the new draft policy has been ever more carefully manifested.

In order to provide an environment for women and children to thrive successfully in, the socio- economic and political amendments are inevitable in any age.

 

The issues of the drafting committee lie in the failure of recognition of the common problems that have infested our thought for a long time. While there seems to be some adherence to these issues, mere acknowledgement is insufficient when it is not paired with concerted action. With the failure of purposive action, these issues translate to the paradoxical trends and an illusion of progress as has been stated in the draft as well.

 

The priority areas situate Health standard and nutrition provision at the top most position. However, little has changed since the first National draft was formulated. While the focus has transposed from poverty due to malnutrition to the recognition of other health problems, the understanding of women’s health has been taken synonymous with reproductive and maternal health.

Although reproductive health care is indispensable, the focus must not stagnate at infrastructure and hygiene. The incorporation of new age, alternate motherhood through technological advances such surrogacy, IVF, test tube fertilization must be made available at an affordable rate. In India, women’s well-being is most affected by social stereotyping surrounding infertility. The government will also have to come up innovative ways to educate the populace with these alternate ways that would also help combat social stigmatization and exclusion.

Moving beyond the reproductive health care techniques, the draft must incorporate the other areas of health care which surmount to equal importance.

The industry of child care assumes women as natural care givers thereby silencing the subjunctive voices that emerge from everyday practice. The normalization of women’s instinctive care is a doubly binding handicap. The alternative discourses are seldom surfaced, compressed under the heavy weight of patriarchal manipulation. Working women are subject to undue criticism owing to such a thought. Thereby it becomes an imperative for the government to solve the problem of nurturing. Maneka Gandhi’s resolution seems to be a well-considered one. The introduction of care centres within the working premise will leave no interstices where working women would be burdened and forced to quit work. However, within the whole category of working women, the poor face further disadvantages due to economic insufficiency. They may not be in a position to afford day care centres, the government must seek to resolve their position as well.

Private companies such as TATA and Citi India have successfully adopted mother-friendly norms. Such effort must be replicated across all spheres of work.
In the wake of such realization, occupational hazards and other health problems must be given undue weight-age. The Prime Minister, NarendraModi’s efforts to install LPG cylinders in rural households has been a phenomenal approach in tackling economic issues of redistribution and justified allocation of resources coupled with safety measures in health care.

 

While the draft highlights geriatric health care and mental health of women as extremely important, in practice, the public health care system has severely neglected old age problems such as Alzheimer, dementia and the sorts. The World Health Organisation has estimated that by the year 2020, depression will be the second leading cause of disability throughout the world, followed only by ischemic heart disease. This coupled with the National Mental Health Policy 2014, which recognizes that women have a greater risk of mental disorders due to discrimination, violence and abuse indicates to the natural need of hour. Certainly more stress must be laid on the hitherto neglected areas of health and well-being.

 

The effort to bridge gap in the rural- urban development has well recognized the need to improvise Education standards as the core bed of values.

The problem of accessibility, affordability, equal participation is being well approached through innovative cluster transportation system, girl child education and incentives provided. However, I must quote Gandhi’s idea of self-sufficient economic sustainability as suggested in his book ‘NaiTalim’. There is a very thin between child labour and individual mastering of techniques and exponential increase in productivity, this makes all the difference. A successful approach would be one where the child masters techniques and knowledge required for the market while simultaneously working on intra-personal intelligence. The differences between rural and urban education and subsequent employment opportunities require a further careful dissection which will go a long way beyond affordability and accessibility. Sustainable development goals must begin at the grassroots.

 

Furthermore, economic sustainability is viewed in terms of tapping the demographic dividend that India currently boasts of.

As AlkaBasu points out, demographic dividend refers to the economic potential temporarily unleashed by changes in the age structure of a population in the direction of increasing the proportions of those of working age. Contrary to the misinterpretations, it is not about increased number of those of working age or a growing labour force. Therefore the demographic dividend is in favour of India only at the present moment and is bound to undergo a downward curve eventually. This brings about an alarming realization that the productive potential of women as a work force needs to be provided with a favourable environment with immediate effect.

According to the World Bank data, if women participated in the formal sector at par with men, there would be an additional 217 million women working in India which would consequently boost the country’s GDP by as much as 27% which is also an indicator of development of women as much as national economic development.

The draft intelligibly mentions the immediate need to confront the gender wage gap through instrumental changes in the market system. The gender neutrality of trade agreement is a huge step forward. As renowned noble laureate AmartyaSen highlights, the reason Bangladesh is ahead of India in most of the social indicators is its focus on women and gender equality not just through state policy but also NGOs which elaborate on women as an individual agency in particular. He duly notes, as a result, the proportion of women workers as school teachers, family planning workers, health carers, factory workers has substantially increased. India must tap in its potential to reach such targets.

 

It is in positive light that the draft effectively highlights the paradigm shift in referring to women as mere recipients of welfare benefits to gradual mainstreaming of gender concerns and engagement in the development process of the country.  However the severe inadequacy of this conceptualization surfaces in the subsequent areas of solution provided within the draft. The recognition of superficiality of welfare benefits has not seeped through the layers providing amendments. For instance in the event of the death of a farmer, the victim’s wife is announced a handsome amount and provided with a job as certified by the government. The bone of contention here is, such measures echo the proverbial phrase “prevention is better than cure” rather than channelizing economy to post disaster management, it should be available for mitigation purposes in the form of easy loans, subsidies and heavy economic and social counselling.

The farmer’s wife is not equipped to juggle with her children and a new job that is totally alien to her, that too in the event of her spouse’s demise. Had these funds been available to her in trying times, an alternate source of income provided in the form of an occupation that she is most familiar with, would prove more beneficial than the compensation whose economic weight cannot provide solace to her mourning, let alone promise a brighter future.

More awareness about the government schemes such as PradhanMantriJeevanJyotiBimaYojana, Atal Pension Yojana, RashtriyaSwasthyaBimaYojana must be meted out to the rural cohort.

Furthermore, the urban occupation structure needs to take cognizance of the rising needs of new age women workers. The onus of securitization must be taken off the shoulders of man and equally placed on the shoulders of women. The only way of instilling such immense confidence is through economic and political independence eventually followed by an evaluation in social thought.

It is of utmost importance that the single mothers, divorcees, widows gain some power and control of their own lives. The availability of more jobs and socio-economic environment promises to make those adjustments however the government must ensure thorough application and safe environment.

 

The government can also issue cashless transaction for the BPL populace so as to counter the problem of misuse. The use of Adhar card for the purchase of ration will ensure that money is used in the right place. In a recent successful effort, the Nitish Kumar government was congratulated by the women endlessly on the event of having curbed the purchase of liquor, through enforcement of a total ban. Such efforts by the government, appreciate the microcosm of human population by addressing issues not solely by individual attention on women but on men as well whose behaviour is inevitably linked to the well-being of the women folk and society in totality.

 

The Government’s decision of ensuing positive discrimination by allocating 50% reservation for women in local bodies and 33% reservation in state assemblies and parliament is a laudable initiative.

The debate on reservation leaves opinions divided. However the statistics cited by UN can prove the resultant consequences of such actions in affirmative. The Norwegian laws have mandated half of all members on board of public listed companies to be women workers and subsequently the company boards had risen from 7% to 40% participation translating to increased profit rates within a decade. Not only did Norway outdo the other countries in terms of economic excellence but was also listed to have provided the best quality of life and the best place in the world to be a woman. Such results are encouraging to follow suite.

 

The significant weight-age given in the draft to the problematization of new emerging areas such as use of new technology, cyber space crime, alternate reproductive technologies, and safety against violence of women should be considered as a commendable attempt.  While the application remains to be assessed, the acknowledgment of problem areas is surely a step forward.

 

Kumudsharma and C. P. Sujaya note in the analysis of conceptual framework of CSWI (Committee on the status of women in India)

The changing contours in the area of women and child development. Earlier the approach viewed women as appendages to development in the WID role (Women in Development) and in recent times the progressive outlook has shifted base to WAD (Women and development) perspective where the conceptualization of women begins with the recognition of their active individual agency.

 

The draft highlights the paradoxical trends where progression and retrogression are simultaneously placed on a single platform.

While unfortunate events such as rape, women and girl child trafficking and dowry issues have remained alarmingly high, the acknowledgment of gender rights on the other hand is also taking centre stage. Similarly, with the instrumental rise in education and career opportunities, the demand for higher wages in the informal sector and the issuing of incentives such as provident funds has also increased as a modern day problem. The high levels of MMR and IMR despite improved state of art medical facilities points at the prevalence of problems in every realm.

The crux of the problem lies in understanding the inter-subjective realm. Prior to plunging into new policies and grievance addressal the state must invest a good amount in locating the individual narratives as they best explain the situation from the point of view of the victim, sufferer or the subject of violence. It is from this disposition that best suited solution arises and contributes to success. The failure to grasp the gravity of the situation will only result deepening of such paradoxes.

The drafting committee for national policy of women and child development has made significant progress in its attempt to highlight the core issues and must continue the effort until success is achieved in terms of praxis.