19-02-2013, 04:00 PM
EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN:MAJOR ADVANCEMENTS OVER THE YEARS
ABSTRACT
The Finance Minister Sh. Pranab Mukherjee, in the Economic Survey 2011-12, tabled
in the Lok Sabha today has outlined some major advancement in the empowerment of women
over the years. They are outlined below:
Women & Education: The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) has had positive outcomes
for girl child education leading to an increase in the gender parity index( GPI) in primary
(0.94) as well as upper primary (0.92) education, Enrolment of girls at primary level and
upper primary level increased over the years. Data also shows that the number of girls in
schools in the age group of 5-14 years has increased from 79.6 per cent in 2004-05 to 87.7
per cent in 2009-10. Similarly, the number of girls in the educational system in 15-19 years
age group increased from 40.3 per cent to 54.6 per cent over the same period. The challenge
is to translate the high enrolment into high attendance rates.
The National Literacy Mission or Saakshar Bharat targeted female literacy as a
critical instrument of women’s empowerment. This has led to an increase in literacy amongst
women from 53.67 per cent (Census 2001) to 65.46 per cent (Census 2011). For the first
time, out of the total of 217.70 million literates added during the decade, women (110.07
million) out numbered men.
Women & Health: Implementation of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM)
has resulted in an improvement in many development indicators for women. As per the India
Human Development Report, fertility rates have come down and have reached replacement
levels in a number of states; Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) has come down to 212 per
1,00,000 live births in 2009 from 301 in 2003. Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), though still high,
has fallen to 50 per 1000 in 2009. Institutional deliveries have risen from 39 per cent in 2006
to 78 per cent in 2009.
Women & Economy: An important strategy for financial inclusion of women, which
is crucial for their integration into the economy, has been micro-finance. The model
encourages access of SHGs to banks both as a means of savings and as providers of loan
services. By March 2010, 69.53 lakh Self Help Group (SHGs) including those formed under
the SGSY had been covered under the National Bank for Agricultural and Rural
Development’s (NABARD) SHG-bank linkage programme. Of these 76 per cent are
exclusively women SHGs, accounting for 72.5 per cent of savings and 82 per cent of
outstanding loans.