WOMEN POST INDEPENDENCE

SUBMITTED TO- DR .SHIKHA

SHARMA
SUBMITTED BY- SAACHI DOBHAL (2216883)
SANJEEVANI RAWAT (2216889)
CLASS –BTECH 2ND YEAR(IT)
 INDEPENDENCE
STATUS
Women before independence faced many evils that existed in the society such as Sati
Pratha, Child Marriage, Prohibition of widow remarriage, Purdah system, dowry
system, no education to girls, polygamy, female infanticide, domestic violence,
sexual harassment and so on. Though some got vanished but some are still existing
in our society like female infanticide, domestic violence, women abuse etc. Inspite of
all these issues, we are not in a position of saying this is a big achievement but the
condition of women has improved at a relatively faster rate. We hope that with the
passage of time, India will be a safer place for women.
 LACK OF EDUCATION

In India women education never got its due share of attention. The people of villages
consider girls to be curse and they do not want to waste money and time on them as
they think that women should be wedded off as soon as possible.
The main reason for not sending girls to school is the poor economic condition.
Another reason is far off location of schools. In Indian society virginity and purity is
given utmost importance during marriage and people are afraid to send their girl child
to far off schools were male teacher teach them along with boys.
The lack of education is the root cause for many other problems. An uneducated
mother cannot look after her children properly and she is not aware of the deadly
diseases and their cure, which leads to the poor health of the children. An uneducated
person does not know about hygiene this lack of knowledge of hygiene may lead to
poor health of the whole family.
 ATROCITIES ON WOMEN
In India violence against women is a common evil. Not just in remote
parts but in cities also women bear the brunt. They are subjected to
physical and mental violence. They are the one who work most but are
not given their due. The women is not safe anywhere neither at home
nor at workplace. Every hour a woman is raped in India and every 93
minutes a woman is burnt to death due to dowry problem. There are
many laws such as The Hindu Marriage Act of 1955, The Hindu
Succession Act of 1956, The Hindu Widow Remarriage Act of 1856, The
Hindu Women Right to Property Act of 1937, The Dowry Prohibition Act
of 1961, to protect women and punishment is severe but the conviction
rate of crime against women is very low in india
 ECONOMIC AND POLITICS
There has been evidence that the women's status had started declining prior independence
and this
continued post1947. Declining status of women are displayed by Demographic statistics
which show
declining proportion of female in Indian population, falling economic participation rate of
women since
20th century, economic distress and unemployment causing increased rate of female
migration, and
increased number and proportion of female illiterates. Even though India has progressed in
terms of GDP, but there are still instances of gender discrimination in work places
approximately 85% of women employed claim that they do not receive a raise, promotion or
job offers because of their
gender. Women have faced discrimination in their work places due to familial and household
responsible.
 POOR HEALTH

The malnutrition results in poor health of women. The women of India

are prejudiced from the birth itself. They are not breastfed for long. In
the want of a son the women wants to get pregnant as soon as
possible which decreases the caring period to the girl child whereas
the male members get adequate care and nutrition. Women are not
given the right to free movement that means that they cannot go
anywhere on their own if they want and they have to take the
permission of male member of family or have to take them along. This
results in decrease in women's visit to doctor and she could not pay
attention to her health as a result.
 POST INDEPENDENCE
STATUS
The status of women in the post-independence period underwent transformations. In the discussion of
their status within the society, there are two main aspects that need to be taken into consideration, first
to what extent women can control their own living conditions and the extent to which they possess the
decision making authority and perform their tasks and activities without minimum restrictions.
Women constituted half of the population within Indian society. They have been rendering a
significant contribution to the development of human resources. Hence, it is vital to encourage them
in participating in the decision making processes, acquiring educational opportunities, getting engaged
in employment and sustaining their livelihoods in an enhanced manner. The National Policy on the
Empowerment of Women in India, 2001, is regarded as one of the important strategies in the
development process and led to changes within the socio-economic environment. With these changes,
transformations also came about in the status of women.
 FIELD OF EDUCATION
After Independence, the educational rights of women were promoted and they were made aware of the
value of education. The ratio of women pursuing higher studies and taking education has improved
gradually since then. The government provided several benefits to women such as scholarships, loan
facilities, hostel facilities etc. who wished to go out to pursue higher education. By getting such benefits a
large number of women are able to pursue higher education today.
Separate schools and colleges have been established for women alone. Separate universities have been also
established which are among the prestigious universities today and admits the girls obtaining merit ranks.
There are many engineering and medical universities in India specially for girls which provides them with a
great quality of education and help in enhancing their careers.
 ECONOMIC AND EMPLOYMENT FIELD

The number of working women has also steadily increased. Women have been
recruited in all posts such as teachers, doctors, nurses, advocates, police officers,
bank employees, IAS, IPS in all major cities of India. Since 1991 women have
been recruited into 3 wings of armed forces that are military, air force and naval
force. The participation of women in society is regarded as the most notable and
this is primarily because of the changing values.
 POLITICAL FILED

In the political field, too, women enjoy equal status in the post-Independent India.women
acquired the right to vote, after the country achieved its
independence. In India, women did not have to undergo problems and challenges in seeking
the right to vote as compared to women in America and Britain. The leaders of India,
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and others had put emphasis upon mass participation in the
country’s struggle for independence. When the large number of women came together, they
expressed their concern in the legislative assembly as well. The number of movements that
were initiated for independence also gave opportunities to women to participate. The political
participation of women is further strengthened by their participation in the Parliament and
Lok Sabha. They constitute 10 percent of the legislators according to the 1955 International
Parliamentary Union in the Parliament and at the Lok Sabha (Status/Position of Women in
Society, n.d.)
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WOMEN HEALTH
Post-independence, women were granted the status at par with the men, and, to raise their status, the
Government brought various laws. We are well aware of the fact that legislation was brought for the
improvement of the political, economic, and social conditions of women in addition to their status. Gender
inequality in India negatively impacts the healthcare facilities received by women in some parts of the
country. Studies have revealed that boys are more likely to receive better treatment from healthcare facilities
when compared to girls. We are aware that the gender discrimination starts before birth. In India, females are
the most commonly aborted. A mother's pregnancy experience becomes quite stressful if female foetus is not
aborted, which is mainly due to the family's preference over son. There have been cases where if a girl child
is born, she is neglected, fed less, not provided adequate medical facilities when ill, and are subjected to bad
behaviour, causing mental illness apart from being physically weak. Women are seen as less or of no value in
some families due to their obligation to get married and leave the house. Furthermore, although illegal, the
concept of dowry payment to the husband's family as a part of Indian cultural norms is considered as a
financial obligation that a daughter's family has to bear - reason for which some families consider son over
daughters
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CONCLUSION

Women have now not only found their place in work places but are also party to governance. In
recent years there have been explicit moves to increase women's political participation. Women
have been given representation in the Panchayati Raj system as a sign of political empowerment.
There are many elected women representatives at the village council level. At the central and state
levels too women are progressively making a difference. Today we have women Chief Ministers in
five large states of India. The Women's reservation policy bill is slated to further strengthen
political participation.
the changes are occurring slowly but there is an advent of social reforms and strengthening of
women in India in late 20th century and hence being at the beginning of 21st century we can hope
for the bright future of women in India whereby they can claim to be really equal to the men in
every field of life.
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