Problems faced by women in rural areas:

India today has reached the zenith of success in many fields like science and technology, literature, movies and
much more. But, there are some issues that are still prevalent in the country and more prominently in the rural India.

Rural India is the actual soul of the country where a maximum of its population resides yet it is also the most
neglected and ignored by the Government. Against this backdrop, a research has been conducted to know the
various problems faced by a woman in rural India i.e. mainly the villages. The main objectives of the study are to
know the various social, psychological, economic and health problems of the women. The study also suggests
remedies for tackling their problems. The empirical study is made in Bissau, a village in the Jhunjhunu district,
Rajasthan. A random sample survey of women on the basis of age group, marital status, religious status, caste status,
type of family, educational status, professional status etc.,  is done. A sample consisting of 60 respondents was
randomly selected from the village Bissau. Data thus, collected is classified, analysed, interpreted and conclusions
are drawn. Following are the major conclusions emerging from the present study:

The respondents have their own social conditions belonging to rural localities as well different religions and caste
categories. They possess different views about education and faith in social customs. Moreover, the social worries
and social problems are of different types.

The study shows that 86.66% out of the total 60 rural women surveyed are Hindus while the remaining 6.13% are
Sikhs and 3.21% Muslim and remaining are from other religion. The study further shows that 63.66% women
belong to general category while the others are backward classes. Most of the women are uneducated. 83.33% of
women are illiterates. 10% are primary educated and 6.66% are high school pass. No woman is found having higher
education level. When asked if the women could get the chance of education which they desired, in rural areas only
3% women replied in affirmative while 97% of women replied in negative.

In rural areas 50% of the women expressed their helplessness due to unawareness and many felt strange to answer
the question because of the unfamiliarity as to how education can help to improve their livelihood. 35% of the
women could not get the desired education for lack of economic resources and also lack of school and higher
educational institution in their area. 10.00% women felt that family reasons were behind it. Many of the women
gave other reasons and said that the schools being far away from their native village, and due to which their children
were deprived of education. When asked whether education is necessary or not 75% of the women feel the necessity
of female education after providing them an insight as to how education can help them to overcome their problems.
Only 3.00% of the rural women replied in negative while the remaining did not answer properly with a fear of being
heard by their in laws or husband.

As regards the beliefs of women in social customs and traditions, 95% of rural firmly believe in dowry system,
whereas 5% women do not believe in dowry system.
The study reveals that caste system still prevails in the society. 60.00% of the rural women favour the caste system.
Ordinarily they do not find distinction between upper and lower caste but they prefer the marriages of their children
solemnised in their own castes.

The study also reveals various aspects of the families of women like marriage, birth of children, type of family, size
of family, number of children, liking towards sons, daughters or both. The data shows that 33% of the rural women
became mothers between the age of 10-20. 63% of the females got motherhood between the age of 20-30. Only 4%
of the women got it between 30-40 years of age. Nobody enjoyed motherhood for the first time after 40 years of age.
Only 13% of the families are nucleus while 77% families are joint families. 10% of the elderly women live alone.

The study shows the number of sons and daughters of the surveyed women. 50.00% of the women have two and less
than two sons. 40.00% of the women have between three to four sons. When the number of daughters is analysed,
67 % of the women have 2 or less than two daughters. 13% of the women have three to four daughters that too for a
want of a male child.

The elderly women have to face so many tensions like unemployment of children, marriage of their children, family
quarrels, loneliness of self, ignored by others, bad relations with relatives, lack of time for family.
Lack of sanitation facility and lack of educational awareness a serious issue that makes the life of a woman
miserable. Most of the women do not own property and even when they own it they do not manage it. They are
completely dependent on the male members of the family for fulfilment of all their basic needs.
The major victims of the issues that are present in the rural India are the women. Rural Indian Women are facing a
lot of problems.

No access to education
According to ASER report 2014, only 1 out of 100 girls from Rural India makes it to colleges. This number in both
shocking and depressing considering the fact that women form almost half of our population.

They are in the real sense the backbone of our society but in rural India, their role is considered to be that of
caretakers and child rears and education would make not benefit to them in their roles according to the typical
mentality of people living in the villages.

Gender Discrimination
Gender Discrimination is rampant is many villages of India especially in the states of Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar
Pradesh. Gender discrimination implies giving a superior position to men due to the prevailing mindset of Patriarchal
society in India. Due to Gender Discrimination, women are kept confined to their households and not allowed to
participate in any activities like elections, discussions, participating in major festivals, etc.

Child Marriage
Though Child Marriage is a completely illegal practice in India according to law, the reality is far from good. According
to the National Statistical Organization, around 47% of women in India are married before the age of 18. This problem
is graver in villages due to the prevalent illiteracy and lack of awareness among the women. This also has continued
as a never-ending tradition in India.

Lack of proper sanitation

Women in rural India today face a problem of getting even the basic sanitation facilities. They are the victims of open
defecation and also the diseases which are caused by it. Women are sometimes even prohibited from using the
public toilets which are constructed by the government.

Domestic violence
Women in rural India are sometimes so ill-treated that they become victims of domestic violence every day in their
homes. Alcoholism of the spouses sometimes even worsens the situation. She is treated like a slave and her
upbringing stops her from questioning her spouse or in-laws.

Dowry
Women are given inferior status because they are considered to be a burden for the parents. This is mainly due to
the dowry practice that is rampant in the rural parts of India. There is not a denial of the fact that dowry as the
practice even exists in Urban and semi-urban regions but the women in urban areas are educated and alert enough
to tackle the issue which is not the case for rural Indian women.

Conclusion

Any developmental process is the expansion of assets and capabilities of rural women to participate in, negotiate
with, influence, control, and hold the institution accountable that affect their lives. Skill development among rural
women is the need of the hour so as to make them confident, self-reliant and to develop in them the ability to be a
part of decision making at home and outside. Indeed it may not be wrong to say that still rural women are the most
disadvantaged and neglected section of the society for they are economically backward. Therefore there is a need on
the part of the government and civil society to enable improvement in the quality of life of such vulnerable sections
of the Indian population.

More importantly the developmental process in India should give priority to welfare schemes and programmes
meant for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes‟ including women. These are the people who are economically
backward; therefore, there is a need for sincere efforts on the part of the government to help improve the quality
their life. The Social Assessment for the training and skill development clearly reflected that rural landless (mostly
SCs and STs) form an integral part of poverty-ridden and marginalized groups. By empowering rural woman
through education can thus enable them to live with dignity and self-reliance cutting across the barriers of customary
biases and prejudices, social barrier of caste, class, gender, occupation and institutional barriers that prevent them
from taking actions to improve their state both at the individual and collective level. Therefore, free education and
necessary and employable skill development programmes must be launched for rural students and women so as to
make them self-reliant and economically independent. Furthermore, right to vote is meaningless unless rural women
are made aware, educated and imparted skills to understand the order of the day and this can bring change in their
lives, in the family and lastly transform the holistic tribal landscape of India, through education, legal awareness,
and socio economic independence. Thus, there is no doubt that the rural women can acquire any developmental
milestones (skills) only through education and thus can change their own destiny