Gender Equality : Turmoil or Triumph

Gender based discrimination represents ugly face of the society. This issue is global with varying degree and very old. Really, it is a travesty of all canons of social justice and equity that women who constitute half of the World's population and work two-third of World's working hours should earn just 1 /10th of World's property and also should remain victim of inequality and injustice. This anomaly is, now, being openly questioned and the underlying discrimination is seriously challenged. As human development moves centre-stage in the global development debate, gender equality and gender equity are emerging as major challenges. Gender discrimination, though amongst the most subtle, is one of the most all pervading forms of institutionalized deprivation.  The term 'sex' and 'gender' are often used interchangeably in every day life, but in sociological literature they are frequently differentiated. The term 'sex' is applied to differences between men and women that are based on biological differences such as anatomy, physiology, hormones and chromosomes, and in this respect people are female or male. The term 'gender' is applied to the cultural aspects of male and female roles. In other words the behaviour, personality and other social attributes that are expected of males and females, and these social attributes become the basis of masculine and feminine roles. Sexuality and the different capacities of men and women in the reproductive process are particularly likely to be thought of as giving 'natural' reasons for gender divisions in society.  The question of gender equality is a very old and burning problem. Twenty years ago in Mexico the First World Conference on Women inspired a movement that has helped; to reduce gender inequality worldwide. Illiteracy among women is declining, maternal mortality and total fertility rates are beginning to fall, and more women are participating in the labour force than even before. However, much remains to be done. Persistent inequality between women and men constrains a society's productivity and, ultimately, slows its rate of economic growth. Although this problem has been generally recognized, evidence on the need for corrective action is more compelling today than ever.  The principles of gender equality and gender equity have been basic to Indian thinking. The 19th and early 20th centuries saw a succession of women's movements first around social issues and later around the freedom struggle itself. The Constitution of India adopted in 1950 not only grants equality of women, but also empowers the State to adopt measures of affirmative discrimination in favour of women.  The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Indian Constitution in its Preamble. Fundamental Rights. Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles. However, there still exists a very wide gap between the goals enunciated in the Constitution. Legislation. Policies. Plans, Programmes and related mechanisms on the one hand and the situational reality of the status of women in India on the other.  Reference to equality between women and men in the Constitution are to be found in the following  Part III of the Constitution which guarantees the fundamental rights of men and women. In particular. Articles 14, 15 and 16 of Pan III the Constitution which guarantee rights to equality and elaborate on the concept of equality underpinning these rights. Article 325 which guarantees that all shall have the right to vote irrespective of sex. Part IV of the Constitution, the Directive Principles of State Policy which are fundamental guidelines for governance, although not enforceable in a Court of law. In addition, some Constitutional amendments also refer to women e.g. the 42nd Amendment to the Constitution which contains a clause referring specifically to women: It shall be the duty of every citizen of India: (e) to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women. The 73rd Constitutional Amendment also provides for the reservation of one-third seals in all tiers of local government for women. Although these rights guarantee, equally to men and women, there are several ways in which the structure of the family and the existence of several inequitable social customs and practices serve to deprive women of these rights. In particular, discrimination occurs within the family, where norms regarding women's secondary status are reinforced in children from birth. Son preference is one of the key aspects underlining social values that view girls as burdens. Women are viewed as dependents within the family and face severe restrictions on their mobility, which further impedes their ability to gain access to education, economic opportunities, to move freely and settle anywhere, to form unions or groups and so on. which are all fundamental freedoms under the Indian Constitution. Freedom of speech and expression is often denied to women within the family, and women are kept out of decision making processes even within the community and State institutions. Cultural norms regarding appropriate behaviour for women often reinforce images of docility, passivity and subservience, severely curtailing for women the exposure and confidence they require to participate on an equal footing with men in public life. Practices like foeticide. Infanticide and the constant if not increasing incidences of violence on women also constitute consistent assaults on women's right to life and personal liberty.  The Constitution guarantees several fundamental rights in addition to the right to equality and non-discrimination discussed earlier. Some of these fundamental rights include :  Protection of life and personal liberty (Article 21)  Freedom of movement (Article 19d)  Right to choose an occupation and pursue a lawful vocation (Article 19g)  Right against Exploitation; traffic in human beings and other forms of Forced Labour (Article 23(i)  Right to Form Association and Unions (Article 19c)  Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression (Article 19a)  In conclusion, it must be emphasised that the Constitution of India provides the only explicit guarantee of women's right to equality in the country. There is no other legislation explicitly or specifically prohibiting discrimination against women in specific areas. The Constitution provides the equality standard. However, the way the Constitution is Interpreted and acted upon in some case law reveals not only the bias of the judiciary, but the normative approach to gender equality that underpins much of State action in India, which views women as persons deserving protection, rather than promoting women's rights. Violations of women's rights continue in practice, aided by the legal system which is slow, often expensive (despite the existence of legal aid cells which are supposed to provide women with free legal services if required) and often procedurally biased against women who face restrictions on their mobility and access to resources. Further, public institutions or authorities are not regulated specifically by laws prohibiting discrimination, and there is no code that lays down guidelines for equal opportunities or non-discrimination that institutions can follow. While employers are bound by laws regarding maternity benefits, provision of creches and soon, the only other law that binds public institution concerns the matter of custodial rape, where the minimum sentence has been set for a higher period than that of noncustodial rape, and where the burden of proof rests on the perpetrators.  The concept of rights particularly in the realm of economic and social rights has been markedly absent from the Indian governments activities and approaches to gender equality. There is a lack of efforts to secure for women basic economic rights in the family, in relation to property. Income and shelter, prerequisites of women's right to dignity and a measure of autonomy. Assets that have been created out of public resources for poor households have been largely granted to male heads, while the responsibility for and social costs of child care, household maintenance and survival-oriented productive tasks are laid on women's shoulders. The Government of India largely considers the household to be the basic unit or structure in development assistance, despite evidence to show that Intra-household Inequalities take a great toll on women and girl children, inhibiting their access to basic rights in development such as good health, education. freedom of movement and right to autonomy. However, there are indications that in some policy areas and programmes, the Government has been willing to invest in processes that empower women and emphasize their rights, which will be elaborated below.  One of the fundamental obstacles to promoting gender equality in development remains at the community level where attitudinal biases often prevent women from realizing their rights. The Government has done little to take on board these obstacles, apart from occasional land irregular campaigns around single issues like dowry, girl child education, amniocentesis and so on. Police education campaigns are restricted to occasional posters and TV spots, but are not consistent or backed up by strong and clear action by the State. Their impact remains less than effective, particularly since there is little action taken against advertising or campaigns that are gender-discriminatory.  The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) was set up in 1993 as a statutory body to which individuals and interested parties can make complaints on human rights violations in the country. The NHRC has explicitly stated that women's rights will be a part of its concerns. As yet the NHRC has taken up no specific issue of violation, though it has attempted to address single instances of state violence on women. It is yet to take a significant interest in women's rights. Part of the problem arises out of the division seen between the National Commission for Women and the NHRC; although a member of the Women's Commission is represented on the NHRC, it is often assumed that the Women's Commission will deal primarily with women's rights violations. The NHRCs ability to function as an autonomous body is yet to be established. Like the Women's Commission, its establishment has been criticized as a move on the State to appear accountable without providing these bodies with sufficient autonomy to push through decisions or recommendations that may appear to the contrary to State Interests. The Law Commission, the Minorities Commissions, the Commissions for Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes that have been set up are broadly mandated to look at women's issues, barring the Law Commission which has participated actively in recommending gender just legal change, the remaining Commissions have shown little concern for women's rights in their functioning.  The causes of gender inequality are complex, linked as they are to the intra-household decision making process. However, the decisions are made, the intra-household allocation of resources is influenced by market signals and institutional norms that do not capture the full benefits to society of investing in women. Low levels of education and training, poor health and nutritional status, and limited access to resources depress women's equality of life and creates hurdle in economic efficiency and growth. Regional perspectives play a very important role in the realm of gender equality.  It is, therefore, essential that public policies work to compensate for market failure in the area of gender equality. These policies should equalise opportunities between women and men and redirect resources to those investments with the highest social returns. Of these investments, female education, particularly at the primary and lower secondary level, is the most important, as it is the catalyst that increases the impact of other investments in health, nutrition, family planning, agriculture, industry, and Infrastructure.  Women themselves are agents for change because they play a key role in shaping the welfare of future generations. Public policies cannot be effective without the participation of the target group, in this case, women, make up more than half of the world's population. Their views, therefore, must find place into the policy formulation.  The causes of persistent disparity and inequality between men and women are only partially examined, explored and understood. In recent years attention has focused on inequalities in the allocation of resources at the household level, as seen in the higher share of education, health and food expenditures hoys receive in comparison to girls. The decision making process within households is complex and is influenced by social and cultural norms, market opportunities and institutional factors. There is considerable proof that the intra-household allocation of resources according to household members is a key factor in determining the levels of schooling, health and nutrition. Regional factors also have contributed in gender equalities.  Bias has been defined as a particular influential power which sways the judgment; the inclination of propensity of the mind towards a particular object. In judicial parlance, justice requires that the judge should have no bias for or against any individual in making his judicial decision and that this mind should be perfectly free to act as the law requires.  Whilst bias may take various forms, when it comes to the judiciary, bias, even on account of a particular gender should have no place in it. Bias in any form is anathema to a Judge. It is. therefore, recognized that where bias is perceived, the general public considers the judicial system as having failed to adhere to the highest .standards of impartiality and fairness. The Rule of Law obtains validity or ratification by society because of its commitment to equality for all citizens irrespective of race, colour, creed, sex etc.  Less than ten years ago terms such as "judicial gender bias" or "gender bias and the courts" were unheard of. Today, the systematic discussion of gender bias is not only part of the most national judicial education system, but it has also received national and international recognition and pervasive gender bias in the courts which was virtually invisible as recently as the 1980 has become apparent and is plainly visible on record and one cannot miss it even with a casual glance. Research conducted into this matter by social scientists and researchers in the legal field have documented a judicial gender bias and its profound effect on judicial fact finding and decision-making. Originally, such progressive ampirical studies were uncoordinated. In numerous areas of the law, a disquieting picture emerged which shows that gender bias existed in all areas, operating sometimes to the advantage of men and more often and more seriously to the disadvantage of women. If gender bias is identified in all its nuances and hues, that would be a large step in dealing with this dilemma. It is not special treatment for women or for men that is called for, because such special treatment is not needed. Instead, what is needed is a sensitivity to the ways in which unexamined attitudes about men and women lead to the unintended result of biased decision making. Once this sensitivity is achieved, and it is reinforced by curiousity, analysis and openness, then and only then will the litigants be able to explain their circumstances to a court that is both willing to learn and to judge to achieve a gender neutrality in its judicial system, which is both vital and important to the ultimate achievement of justice in its purest and highest form.  Violence and its perpetuation are often related to conflicts of caste, class, ethnicity, communalism. fundamentalism and terrorism. And all these factors cumulatively have a negative impact on the women. Other forms of violence are trafficking in women and girls and custodial violence perpetrated by law enforcement agencies. Violence is reprehensible in all contexts.  Amendment in Indian Penal Code and introduction of Section 304-B or 408-A or even in case of important amendments in IPC on custodial deaths and even in Indian Evidence Act are not sufficient enough to check increasing domestic cruelty and violence. Therefore, legal literacy and awareness programmes must be evolved for better development and empowerment of women. No doubt, we are deeply committed to the object of elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and India is one of the signatories of the Convention on the said subject.  As per the report of review of New Internationalist's "Women — a World Report", there has been progress in the field of gender equality since 1985, but less than what was expected. The report illustrated how women's ability to bear children means they are expected to take responsibility for domestic work worldwide. A woman in a Pakistani village for example, spent around 63 hours a week on domestic work alone. But housework is everywhere invisible and undervalued. If the services provided free by a housewife in the USA in 1979 had been purchased with wages at market rates, they would have cost S 14,5000 a year. On this basis, unpaid work done in the Industrialised countries contributes 25-40 per cent or GNP.  It is really surprising to think that if women paid each other to do their housework, GNP would nearly double. It is not of course that we wish to value all work and caring in monetary terms, but it does seem that because such work is undervalued, women's abilities and contribution throughout society and throughout the world also tend to be undervalued. It is interesting that in parts of the world where cash and wages have not penetrated, women and men lend to do relatively equal amounts of work.  Three fifths of world's population live their lives by the rhythm of the seasons. The remaining two fifths of us — about I billion people — are hitched to the machines that run modern society. Women predominantly work in service jobs — reflecting their traditional role of caring and cleaning, in 1985 women's wages were consistently lower than men's, ranging from 73 percent in the countries of northern Europe to less than 50 per cent in Japan and Korea. Overall women employed in the rich world did an average of three hours less paid work per week than men. but over 17 hours more unpaid domestic work. Even in United States, the figures are alarming. There are also the numbers, statistics like measured mile markers, flashing along a dawn drive toward a still distant reckoning. There were 301 women State legislators in 1969, 908 in 1981; 5,765 female elected officials in 1975. And yet those 908 legislators are only 12 per cent of the members of the Stale legislative bodies. Only 19 of the 435 members of the US House of Representatives are women, only two of the 100 senators.  The numbers mark distance travelled and distance yet to go. Eighty percent of all women who work hold down "pink collar jobs" and get paid about 66 cent of a man's dollar. Seventy percent of all classroom teachers are women, yet for the same job, they make an average of $ 3,000 a year less than their male colleagues. More than a third of all candidates for M.B.A. degrees are women, the numbers encourage. Only 5 per cent of the executives in the top 50 American companies are women, the numbers numb. Where once even recently, there was nothing, all those statistics and all their corollaries now show that there has been something; some progress forged for women over the past decade of challenge and confusion. Perhaps those numbers arc really a crude scale for a new geography, exploring the wide gulf between something and satisfaction.  Across the world, as many as one third of all house holds were headed by women. Migration was a major cause of this. In many of the poor world's cities, men far outnumber women a leaving large numbers of women managing alone in rural areas. Divorce is rising all over the world. On top of this 75 per cent of the health care for elderly people was provided by women at home. Clearly traditional family structures are undernstrain across the planet.  White women represent fifty per cent of the world's population; they perform nearly two thirds of the working hours; receives only one tenth of the worlds income and less than one per cent of the world's property. Thus there are grave inequality between nations and there are also serious inequalities within the nations and everywhere women are lacking in position and power and over represented amongst the poor. cannot resist the temptation of mentioning a poem at this stage :  "I am the woman who holds up the sky. The rain bow runs through my eyes. The sun makes a path to my womb. My thoughts are in the shape of clouds. But my words are yet to come,"  Gender relations need to be measured in the context of participation in and sharing of the important decision-making process that results in the above inequalities. Such a measure would help identify the differing degrees of inequality in terms of age, income levels and geographical location. For governments and concerned citizens seeking to redress these inequalities, indices are a means of determining the issues on which they must concentrate, and provide feedback on the effectiveness of their actions. Clearly, then, the accuracy of any measure of gender inequality needs close scrutiny.  I refer in particular to a recent event: the initial euphoria generated a few months ago mainly by men over the proposed reservations for women of one third of the total seats in Parliament and in Legislative Assemblies : a constitutional amendment was tabled, and it was even insisted that it should be put to the vote as early as possible. But then "cold-feet symptoms" developed. The excitement bubbled over — as quickly as it started and dissolved into nothingness, exhibiting, what the CJI has so accurately described (in the Preface to the Volume on "Gender and Judges") as "the general male chauvinist attitude that is unwittingly nurtured by us".  That is why judicial verdicts — especially of the highest Court can move mountains. They frequently do.  For instance before 1990. no married woman was entitled as of right to be appointed to the Indian Foreign Service. She required special written permission of the Government before her marriage was solemnized and could be made to resign if the Government was satisfied that (I quote) "her family and domestic commitments were likely to come in the way of the efficient discharge of her duties". Along, came one M/s. Muthamma : a brilliant member of the Indian Foreign Service. She came with the complaint that as a result of the Service Rules she had been denied promotion to Grade-1 in the Indian Foreign Services — a Grade which entitled her to be appointed Ambassador.  The Judges found in the rules what they described as "transparent discrimination" against women. But what is of interest and importance is than an enlightened member of the Bar, the then Solicitor -General of India, appearing for the Union of India volunteered to review the rules and the seniority of M/s. Muthamma. The Court whilst pronouncing the marriage rule invalid said that it wished to impress upon Government.  "the need to overhaul all service rules to remove the stain of so discrimination without waiting for ad hoc inspiration from writ petition or Gender Charity".  M/s. Muthamma got her promotion and distinguished herself as India's Ambassador serving in several countries abroad.  What we want today is evidence of a visible absence of gender bias in all decision-making. Not gender charity not the sort of judicial gender charity exhibited in the Air India case some years ago. In the early eighties air hostesses claimed parity in retirement age, under the statutory regulations, when they attained 35 years or on marriage whichever was earlier, but this was extendible at the discretion of the Managing Director to 45 years. Male air pursers retired at 58.  The Court said that conferment of discretion on the Managing Director to extend the date of retirement of air hostesses from 35 to 45 years was arbitrary, so that air hostesses would henceforth retire at 45 years. The obvious differentiation of 45 years for females and 58 year for males was simply whisked away as neither arbitrary nor discriminatory. Five years later counsel for the air hostesses asked for a reconsideration of the previous decision (of 1982) but the Judges said: We do not feel persuaded to accept this request". An attempt was then made to extend the date of retirement of air hostesses......... this time on the basis that British girls 'recruited by Air India abroad retired at 55 years whereas those recruited in India had to retire at 45. but the challenge was negatived, and an assurance was taken from Counsel that even British girls recruited by Air India would retire at 45 years. These are but two instances of what Justice Krishna lyer in the Mulhainina case characterised as "gender charity".  But if we are to rid ourselves of patronising attitudes we must be conscious of an innate gender bias especially amongst the male population in this region. Yes, even amongst Judges. We can learn to improve only if we first want to learn.  How do you get rid of such attitudes and approaches ? Forone thing by adopting the direct Krishna Iyer approach — more frequently.  In Muthamma's case this great Judge just hacked through the Foreign Services Recruitment Rules —expressing in cold print his wonderment as to how sex prejudice against Indian women pervaded Indian Service Rules even 30 years after freedom was won. He wrote :  "If a married man has a right, married woman, other things being equal, stands on no worse footing. This misogynous posture is a hangover of the masculine culture of manacling the weaker sex forgetting how our struggle for national freedom was also a battle against woman's thralldom. Freedom is Indivisible, so is Justice. That our founding faith enshrined in Article 14 and 16 should have been tragically ignored vis-a-vis hall of India's humanity, viz., our women, is a sad reflection on the distance between Constitution in the book and the law in action. And if the Executives as the surrogate of Parliament, makes rules in the teeth of part-Ill, especially when high political office, even diplomatic assignment has been filled by women the inference of die-hard allergy to gender parity is inevitable.  "Diehard allergy to gender parity". Strong words necessary to express judicial indignation. We require more of this from the Judiciary to shake people out of Gender Bias.  Have our attitudes been too paternalistic and out of touch with realities ? Are they in tune with fast changing social conditions and values ? All this will be discussed in under different subtopics:  Strategies and Actions Points for the Future If the benefits from investing in girls and women are so great and can be quantified, why do households and employers under invest in women? The main reason is that, as discussed above, markets fail to capture the full benefit to society of investing in women and girls. Where the market fails or is absent, government must take the lead. Public policy can contribute, directly and indirectly, to reducing gender inequalities. For example :  Modifying the legal and regulatory framework to ensure equal opportunities : Ensuring macroeconomic stability and improving inicroeconomic incentives. Redirecting public policies and public expenditures to those investments with the highest social returns. Adopting targeted interventions that correct for gender inequalities at the microlevel. At the grass-roots, women may be organised into self-help groups at the Local or Anganwadi level: these womens' groups should be helped to institutionalize themselves into registered societies and to federate at the town level. Such societies should bring about synergistic Implementation of all the social and economic development programmes by drawing resources made available through Government and non-Government channels, including banks and financial institutions and by establishing a close interface with the Panchayats and Municipalities. A national action plan for translating the policy into a set of concrete actions should be drawn. Such action plans should include the following :  Commitment of resources for women in key sectors relating to education, vocational training, employment and income generation, health, all support services, gender sensitization programmes and information dissemination. Time targets to achieve the mandates, strategies and action points of such policy. Fixing up responsibilities for implementation of action points. Structures and mechanisms to ensure efficient implementation, monitoring and review of action points. There will be widespread dissemination of information on all aspects of legal rights, human rights and other entitlements of women, through specially designed legal literacy programmes and rights information programmes. Review of curriculum and educational materials to include gender education and human rights issues. Use of different forms to mass media to communicate the social messages relating to women's equality and empowerment. Several initiatives have been taken to improve the status of women. From Mexico to Copenhagen, on to Nairobi and finally to Beijing is merely two decades of contemporary social history. However, if one looks at the history of the struggle for women's rights, both in India and around the world, it constitutes one of the most eventful and momentous in recent times. India's search for an organisational structure to coordinate efforts towards gender equality and gender equity began with the establishment of the Central Social Welfare Board in 1953. A Department of Women and Child Development was set up in 1985 under the newly created Ministry of Human Resources Development. There has been a subsequent growth of many new institutions to interact with and add on to the existing network. Amongst these, one of the most significant is the setting up of the National Commission for Women by an Act of Parliament in 1990.  The73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts 1993 constitute a watershed tor the advancement of Indian women. They ensure 1/3 of the total elected seals and positions of chairpersons in rural and urban local elected bodies to women. About I million women are estimated to emerge as leaders at the grass-roots levels in the rural areas alone. Of these 75,000 are to be Chairpersons.  In spite of series of actions, singular policies, new programmes and some achievements, certain critical areas call for immediate attention. Some of them could be highlighted as follows keeping in mind the regional factors and perspectives;  Inadequacy of institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women. Persistent and institutionalised discrimination against the girl child. Feminization of poverty. Gender blindness in macro-economic policies. Invisibility of women's contribution to the economy and environmental sustenance. Poor participation by women in decision making structures and processes. Gender gaps in literacy, education and health. Growing trend of violence against women. Barriers encountered by women in accessing legal entitlements. Gender biased social norms. Negative portrayals and perpetuation of gender stereotypes by mass media. Regional adverse perspectives and problems affecting the goal of gender equality and equity. A few measures for administration of Law can be taken including some changes in the provisions of substantial penal and evidentiary nature.  To introduce a law relating to demestic violence i.e. to enact the Domestic Violence Act which will ensure the physical safely of women as well prevent them from being thrown out of maternal home, with the power to the Family Court to grant injunctions to protect a 'battered wife' even though the house was in the name of husband's sole name and it belonged to him without her having a share in it. For better investigation and inquiry into the cases of unnatural deaths, the Coroners Act. 1871 as operative in Bombay, may be made applicable in other areas. This may enable an independent authority with judicial powers to probe into the cause of an unnatural death. More female police personnel should be inducted so as to be available in situations relating to the unnatural deaths of women. A man woman police combination is likely to produce better results in such investigations. In the interest of more responsible and efficient investigation, no officer below the rank of Assistant Commissioner or Assistant Superintendent of Police should handle the case of an unnatural death. Punishment for abetment of suicide may be raised to a minimum of 7 years as in the case of dowry death. This is desirable in view of the fact that police treat most of the unnatural deaths as suicide and the accused persons are prosecuted for abetment of suicide which attracts a lesser punishment. Under Section 113-B of the Evidence Act, a very heavy burden is cast on the prosecution to get the benefit of the presumption: a nexus is to be established between the dowry issue and the fatal violence. The section may be made more liberal by dispensing with the burden of proof that the violence was in relation to dowry demand. Early appointment of dowry prohibition officers, as envisaged in Dowry Prohibition Act, is highly desirable for their likely utility in the prevention, investigation and prosecution of dowry related crimes. Compulsory and free education up to middle school standards for all girls and prohibition of labour of the girl child up to the age of sixteen. The offence under the Dowry Prohibition Act and under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code should be made of compoundable nature with a view to effect a healthy reconciliation between the parties, the court needs to be Invested with a discretionary power to" ask for an undertaking from the husband that he will not proceed with his demand for dowry and that he will be faithful to his wife and to the obligations of the marital tie. Suitable amendments to be made to implement this provision under the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1973 and Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961. Women continue to be in marginal employments and low levels of skills, their contribution being largely invisible. The prevailing social construction of gender largely relegates women to the inside sphere. Reproduction and responsibilities of nutrance, management of a fragile environment, and low paid or unpaid but heavy work responsibilities in agriculture, animal husbandry and other traditional sectors create a syndrome of gender stereotypes, marginalisation, alienation and deprivation. One would obviously be reminded of to one of India's greatest poets, Rabindranath Tagore's version, who expressed the pain and inequality of the situation more than half a century ago, thus :  "O lord why have you not given women the right to conquer her destiny ?  Why does she have to wait head bowed.  By the roadside. Waiting with tired patience, Hoping for a miracle in the morrow ?"  Making women equal partners in the national development process and equipping them to make informed choices in order to equalise their self worth through empowerment are such goals to which the Government must be committed. There is a long way to go, but the endeavour must be ceaseless. The disparity and inequality emerging on account of regional perspectives must be seriously examined, analyzed and then controlled by appropriate plans and programmes.  References with courtesies Indian NGOs Report on : Discrimination against women — National Policy for Women : 1996. Discrimination against Women. Public Policies Matters. Towards Gender Equality. Advancing Gender Equality. Women's Charter for effective Equality. Â

Author Name: Hon’ble Justice Jitendra N. Bhatt