Jawaharlal Nehru had said “You can tell the condition of the nation by looking at the status of women.”

 
And the following phrase of Manusmriti, “Na Stree Swathantryam Arhati” (woman is undeserving for independence), reflects our whole attitude towards women in our country. Woman suffers discrimination and injustice in all stages of her life.
 
Declining sex ratio portrays our discrimination shown towards her even at the stage of birth. Often the lame excuse is women are the ‘weaker sex’! But biological evidence proves, due to the presence of two X hormones women are more resistant to diseases compared to men. Life expectancy is a proof of this (In our country life expectancy of women is 65 whereas for men it’s only 60 years).
 
Census 2001 shows our national sex ratio as 921:1000 (921 females for 1000 males), and this will lead to detrimental social problems if not corrected. The main reason for this is female infanticide.
 
Gender wise abortions are on the rise. In economically developed states such as Haryana and Punjab the tendency is found to be more. Abortion though legal in our country, gender based abortion is a crime here. Strict measures should be taken for the implementation of Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation & Prevention of Misuse) Act 1994, which prohibits any prenatal diagnostic techniques and sex selective abortions.
 
A shocking study reveals that half of the world’s malnourished children live in India owing primarily to the lack of nutritious food available to the mother. In all the critical stages, be it infancy, childhood, adolescence or the reproductive phase many women suffer malnutrition purely due to the discrimination and the narrow mindsets of the society.
 
According to Mahatma Gandhi, “If you educate a man you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman you educate an entire family.” Our predominant patriarchal system doesn’t provide enough chances for women to have higher education even if they wish. Girls should be motivated to take up higher education. Universal education for all below 14 years should be strictly implemented. There is an urgent necessity of framing gender sensitive curricula at all stages of primary education to address sex-stereotyping menace.
 
Women should be allowed to work and should be provided enough safety and support to work. Legislatures such as Equal Remuneration Act, Factories Act: Constitutional safeguards such as maternity relief, and other provisions should be strictly followed. Poverty eradication policies need to be implemented. Macro economic policies would help in this drive. Through economic empowerment women’s emancipation could be realized.
 
Dowry still remains the major reason for all the discrimination and injustice shown to women. Dowry has always been an important part of Hindu marriages. Not only among Hindus, its evil tentacles are now spreading to other religions also. Although dowry was legally prohibited in 1961(Dowry Prohibition Act), it continues to be highly institutionalized.
 
It is ridiculous to see that even among highly educated sections, the articles of dowry are proudly exhibited in the marriage as a status symbol. The practice of dowry abuse is rising in India. The most severe is “bride burning”, the burning of women whose dowries were not considered sufficient by their husband or in-laws. Most of these incidents are reported as accidental burns in the kitchen or are disguised as suicide. It is evident that there exist deep-rooted prejudices against women in India.
 
Cultural practices such as these tend to subordinate women in our society. Dowry is one of those social evils that no educated woman will own up with pride; still many are adhering to it, why? Women should be more economically empowered and should be educated properly regarding the various legal provisions such as Section 498ACrPC, protection from domestic violence etc. only then only this evil menace could possibly be eradicated from Indian social system.
 
True empowerment will only be reached when women take part actively in the decision making process of our country. Women Reservation Bill that entitles to provide 33 per cent reservation in Parliament is a bill of utmost importance. The success of 73rd & 74th amendment which reserves certain number of seats for women in the local bodies should be an encouragement for the Bill to be passed at least in this current session.
 
Mainstreaming and women’s empowerment is central to human development. Empowerment of women could only be achieved if their economic and social status is improved. This could be possible only by adopting definite social and economic policies with a view of total development of women and to make them realize that they have the potential to be strong human beings.
 
The various articles of our constitution enshrine principle of gender equality. We started giving special attention to the causes of women by the fifth five-year plan. For considering the grievances and preventing the atrocities against women a National Commission for Women (NCW) was set up in 1990.
 
But despite all these measures there should be a strong determination among every man that every woman in this country should be honoured. Only then empowerment in its true meaning will be realized.
 
Swami Vivekananda had said “That country and that nation which doesn’t respect women will never become great now and nor will ever in future” and in pursuit of making India a great nation, let us work towards giving women their much deserved status.