Women empowerment in India

In this era of technology and development women need to gain the same amount of power that men have. The time when men held the power of the family has gone. In India male domination still prevails in some cultures which forms an obstacle for women who wish to explore the world. The things are related to women’s status and their future. However, I believe that Indian women are slowly getting empowerment in the sectors like education, politics, the work force and even more power within their own households. The worth of civilization can be arbitrated by the place given to women in the society. Now a days women choose work shoulder to shoulder with men. While some men find it not right for women to earn a living. They think that women’s role in family is only of the house wife rather than a earning member. The economic empowerment of women is a vital element of strong economic growth in any country. Empowering women enhances their ability to influence changes and to create a better society.

Women in India feel proud to display that they are well protected and pampered by their husbands without realizing that they are making themselves helpless. Such women's economic literacy is so low that they cannot play any role in family's decision regarding family's budget, savings and investments. To such women, the national budget discussion is for men only and soap operas are for them. They consider their husband to be the decision maker of the family and decision maker of their own lifes. Such women should be given proper counseling to let them know their rights. Women should also remember that they are also rational, intelligent and thinking human beings and dependent women are not empowered women.

According to the 2001 Census, the percentage of female literacy in the country is 54% up from 9% 1951. We also had great women leaders in the history of India. Razia Sultana, Rani of Jhansi, Sarojini Naidu and Indira Gandhi are some of the prominent leader from the Indian history who have made all of us proud.These women have changed the face of India. They should be a motivation for the rest of the women in India. In the Indian society man have always acted as the man of the scene and head of the family not allowing women to indulge in decision making or any decision related to the household. God has gifted women with compassion, tender-heartedness, caring nature, concern for others. These are the qualities required for a eminent leader. But they happened to realise it lately. Women empowerment also plays a important role in changing the developing country into a developed country.

 I would like to peep into the past when the stature of women as destroyed. They were treated as chattel in the early Roman society. In France, they were termed as half-soul creatures responsible for the destruction of society. The Chinese considered them as devil's soul. Japanese men preferred to live unmarried lives. Before the advent of Islam, Arabs buried their daughters alive considering them as a sign of disgrace. In this way, they deprived women of their due place. Most men view themselves as being the superior life-form in society.

We are now witnessing a steady improvement in the enrollment of women in schools, colleges and even in profession institutes.  Women in India are now also a source of Income. We notice that the results of Girls are better than boys in the CBSE, ICSE and state board exams. This shows us that girls are now more confident of getting better-paid professional jobs than their flagging male counterparts. Clearly, there is an excellent amount of reason for the girls to be more confident than boys and this is because of their remarkable academic feat around the nation. This achievement of girls is an absolute reversal of what would have been expected a generation ago. This is likely to steer to higher-income jobs for them. The percentage of women entering in to private sector jobs are increasing every year, giving close competition for their male co workers.  In the political field, the reservation for women is a significant step  towards enhancing political empowerment of women. When thirty-three percent reservation for women in Parliament becomes a reality, women's voice will be heard in the highest forum of democracy. The day, women of India will reach zenith in their empowerment.  These days, women have established themselves that they are equal to men. They have now forsaken their homely image and are making a major contribution to global innovation of the country. They are working in different fields with man by doing hard work.

 But, an upsetting place still remains for Indian women is the negative sexual attention that women often receive. Indian societies have received notoriety for being unsafe for women. Whereby the fair sex is not only being hassled, stalked and raped but incidents of immoral trafficking also are very high. Twenty-six laws have been enacted so far to protect women from various crimes. The recent law on the 'protection of women against domestic violence' satisfies the long pending demand of the women activities. Female feticide and infanticide wherein nearly 10 million baby girls have been killed in the last twenty years alone. A girl Child is considered as liability by parents who later opt for abortion of the child. In fact, the level of atrocities against women is an indicator of the coercion of our society and underscores that we are a suppressed society. Clearly, safety is an obsolete word in today’s India.

It is the duty of law enforcement agencies to prevent crimes against women but they fail to solve this scourge alone. Teamwork by people is the key to eradicating this menace. People must come forward to help in rooting out such social evils. Law enforcing agencies cannot work alone. When the people are dynamic in their drive against crimes, the police cannot remain a mute spectator though they are supposed to be the protectors of citizens. They will be forced to dispense their bounden duties. Youth should be motivated to be socially responsible and protect women. This is the need of the hour. Everyone must think of changing society. If we all abide by the rules, women in our cities will surely be safer.

In India, women are devalued traditionally and the men are normative reified. According to Hindu mythology, the word ‘Ardhanarishvara’ meaning "The Lord whose half is a woman". What is the value of a man without a woman? We shouldn’t forget that there are many temples in our country devoted to the Goddesses and men also use to worship female goddess. We must work all together and both needs each other to survive and flourish.