Bindu dalmia Social commentator and author of national bestseller Diary of a Lutyens’ Princess
RSS swayamsevaks’ family counseling campaign now hands out sartorial advice that women be attired in saree, and prefers the same as its dress code. The suggestive norm is anachronistic to the pulsating feisty Indian woman of 2017, out to bust stereotypes in times of Lipstick under my Burkha, and symptomatic of ‘a liberalised country with a colonised mind set’ on women issues.
We need to widen our worldview on women socially, as also need to integrate them into the formal economy. After going through the draft of the current National Policy for Women, circulated in 2016, it seemed to me a modified update of the 2001 version, lacking new elements or time-bound measures. Issues of Third-Wave Feminism, in a Third World country such as India, now transcend social crimes of the last century, such as abolishing sati, dowry, child marriage and social prejudices against widows to contemporary concerns like cyber crime, triple talaq and sexual harassment at the workplace.
Latest McKinsey report states that at 17 per cent, India has a lower share of women’s contribution to GDP compared to global average of 37 per cent, and ranks 125 among 159 countries in the Gender Inequality Index of UNDP’s Human Development report of 2016. This places us in the ‘medium human development category’ in a country considered as the fastest-growing economy, yet having deep pockets of exclusion. Consider, that only 12 per cent of Parliament seats are held by women; only 26.8 per cent of women are part of India’s labour force, while the gender gap in wage and education is unabridged; and that women have rights over only 12.7 per cent of operational land holdings.
Gender parity is one of the biggest unresolved issues of the last century, as was apartheid, Colonialism or global poverty, which only collective movements demolished. We need to break the conspiracy of patriarchal societies, as living under male dominance financially or emotionally is a perpetuation of unofficial bonded labour of the past century, and another face of apartheid. ‘Changemakers’ in civil societies, in partnership with local governments, need to give a voice to the voiceless through welfare- and rights-based support, leveraging digital platforms so as to bring all stakeholders onboard.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s National Policy for Women targets an increase of 50 per cent by 2030 to widen women’s participation in the workforce, yet lacks a sense of urgency. Lowering of IT rates for single women, creches for children, government-assisted living facilities for elderly women and widows, and free legal support for survivors of gender violence are some of the steps expected to be taken. However, these are not transformative enough to address contemporary issues. Multifold initiatives are required to facilitate entrepreneurial opportunities for women through schemes such as E-haats, easy access to microfinance, and legislation that ensures the rights of women to immovable properties.
Also, women as girls spend years in traditional household as caregivers to family at the expense of higher education or paid work. This is clearly an unremunerative duty in the prime earning years, as a household optimises only 50 per cent of its potential earning capacity. Interestingly, research findings validate that literate and financially empowered women are subject to lesser domestic violence. My personal trajectory of growth convinces that any woman with a modicum of earning ability can learn about the multiplier effect of savings to turn personal earnings into assets.
There is need for a gender- sensitive judiciary, speedier legislations, stricter enforcement of laws, and cutting down delays in the justice delivery system. The passion invested in this struggle can only be commensurate with the depth of our social conviction to alter the inequities of the past.
gdalmia73@gmail.com