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GS Paper: GS1-07.Role of women and women’s organization, population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues.

  • Internet usage in Indian states

    The recent National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) survey helps us gain an idea about the spread of awareness regarding the internet among people.

    This newscard provides a picture of gendered as well as regional differentiation of internet usage in India.

    Statewise Internet Usage

    (1) Gendered data

    • A very high differential is also seen among the female and male population who have ever used the internet. In every state, it is seen that the percentage of male users exceeds the number of females.
    • The states and Union territories with the highest percentage of internet users among men are Goa (82.9 %), Lakshadweep (80.3 %), and Mizoram (79.7 %).
    • Also, states like Sikkim (76.7 %), Goa (73.7 %) and Mizoram (67.6 %) have the highest percentage of female internet users. The lowest internet usage among men is seen in Meghalaya (42.1 %), Assam (42.3 %) and Bihar (43.6 %).
    • In some states like Bihar, Tripura, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, there is almost double the number of male internet users than female ones. Among women, it is seen in Bihar (20.6 %), Andhra Pradesh (21 %) and Tripura (22.9 %).

    (2) Urban-Rural divide

    • Except for West Bengal, there is no other state which shows a lower percentage of urban male internet users compared to rural ones.
    • States like Goa, Kerala and Lakshadweep don’t show a huge variation in internet accessibility in the urban and rural areas.
    • But in every other state, there is an approximate difference of 10-15 % between the two regions, with urban areas staying ahead.

    Why it matters?

    • The internet today has a very huge range and a big impact on the lifestyle and empowerment of people.
    • Female empowerment and gender equality have been one of the UN-mandated Sustainable Development Goals that our country is trying to achieve.
    • Good and affordable internet availability to women will be a big step towards fulfilling this goal.

    Significance of the data

    • Gender differentiation that is seen in the offline world also affects the variations that we have seen in the online world, which includes differences in education, employment and income.
    • Sexual harassment and trolling are other reasons why people prefer to keep their female relatives away from the internet.
    • Just like phone ownership was used as an indicator to understand the women empowerment situation in the country, this too can be an indicator for the same.

    Conclusion

    • The results from the NFHS-5 survey are still partial, but they have shown a great variation in the access to the internet among the states, between men and women and also between the rural and urban regions of each state.
    • When we look at the differentials in the usage of the internet by women across the rural and urban regions, a huge gap is seen between the urban and rural women’s use of the internet.
    • The variations are very high, with the percentage of women users of the internet in rural areas being just half of that in urban areas. These disparities paint a sad picture.

  • Gender Advancement through Transforming Institutions (GATI) Initiative

    One of the focuses of the new Science, Technology and Innovation Policy, currently being drafted by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) is to increase the participation of women in science.

    Connect the dots:

    Women in STEM presents a dismal picture of gender equality in India.

    GATI

    • The DST is incorporating a system of grading institutes depending on the enrolment of women and the advancement of the careers of women faculty and scientists.
    • It will be called GATI (Gender Advancement through Transforming Institutions).
    • The concept borrows from a programme started by the UK in 2005 called the Athena SWAN (Scientific Women’s Academic Network), which is now being adopted by many countries.
    • The DST will soon launch a pilot, which the British Council has helped it develop.

    Why need such initiative?

    • India is ranked 108 out of 149 countries in the 2018 Global Gender Gap report.
    • According to DST figures, in 2015-16, the share of women involved in scientific research and development was 14.71% — after it had actually increased from 13% in 2000-2001 to 29% in 2014-15.
    • The DST has also found that women are either not promoted, or very often drop out mid-career to attend to their families.

    What is Athena SWAN?

    • The Athena SWAN Charter is an evaluation and accreditation programme in the UK enhancing gender equity in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM).
    • Participating research organisations and academic institutions are required to analyse data on gender equity and develop action plans for improvement.
    • Signatories commit to addressing various issues such as –
    1. Unequal gender representation;
    2. Tackling the gender pay gap;
    3. Removing the obstacles faced by women in career development and progression;
    4. Discriminatory treatment often experienced by trans people;
    5. Gender balance of committees and zero tolerance for bullying and sexual harassment.

    Way ahead

    • To get as many institutions as possible to sign up, the DST will need to manoeuvre around government red tape as most universities, barring the IITs and NITs, are run and funded by the government as well.
    • This means that these institutions don’t have direct control over institutional policies, recruitment and promotions.
    • The DST has tied up with the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), under the UGC, aiming to push gender equity through them.

  • Supreme Court’s guidelines for deserted Wives and Children

    The Supreme Court has laid down uniform and comprehensive guidelines for family courts, magistrates and lower courts to follow while hearing the applications filed by women seeking maintenance from their estranged husbands’.

    Debate: Alimony as a right of women or a feminist taboo

    Why such a judgement?

    • Usually, maintenance cases have to be settled in 60 days, but they take years, in reality, owing to legal loopholes.
    • The top court said women deserted by husbands are left in dire straits, often reduced to destitution, for lack of means to sustain themselves and their children.
    • Despite a plethora of maintenance laws, women were left empty-handed for years, struggling to make ends meet after a bad marriage.

    What did the Court say?

    • The Supreme Court has held that deserted wives and children are entitled to alimony/maintenance from the husbands from the date they apply for it in a court of law.
    • To ensure that judicial orders for grant of maintenance are duly enforced by husbands, the court said a violation would lead to punishments such as civil detention and even attachment of the property of the latter.
    • The plea of the husband that he does not possess any source of income ipso facto does not absolve him of his moral duty to maintain his wife, if he is able-bodied and has educational qualifications, the court declared.
    • Both the applicant wife and the respondent-husband have to disclose their assets and liabilities in a maintenance case.
    • Other factors such as “spiralling inflation rates and high costs of living” should be considered, but the wife should receive alimony which fit the standard of life she was used to in the matrimonial home.

    Covering expenses

    • The expenses of the children, including their education, basic needs and other vocational activities, should be factored in by courts while calculating the alimony.
    • Education expenses of the children must be normally borne by the father. If the wife is working and earning sufficiently, the expenses may be shared proportionately between the parties.

    Permanent alimony

    • The court opined it would not be equitable to order a husband to pay his wife permanent alimony for the rest of her life, considering the fact that in contemporary society marriages do not last for a reasonable length of time.
    • Anyway, the court said, the duration of marriage should be accounted for while determining the permanent alimony.

  • [pib] Meri Saheli Initiative

    Indian Railways has launched “Meri Saheli” initiative for focused action on the security of women across all zones with an objective to provide safety and security to lady passengers.

    Such a feedback-based initiative can be replicated in unsafe cities while addressing distress situation.

    Meri Saheli Initiative

    • The initiative was started as a pilot project in South Eastern Railway in September 2020 and after getting encouraging response from lady passengers.
    • An initiative of RPF, the strategy entails interaction with lady passengers especially those travelling alone by a team of lady RPF personnel at the originating station.
    • These lady passengers are briefed about all precautions to be taken during the journey and told to dial 182 in case they face or see any problem in the coach.
    • The RPF team collects only the seat numbers of the ladies and conveys them to stoppages en-route.
    • RPF/RPSF escort onboard also covers all the coaches/identified berths during its duty period.

    Based on feedbacks

    • RPF teams at the destination collect the feedback from the identified lady passengers.
    • The feedback is then analysed and corrective action, if any, is taken.
    • If some distress call comes from a train covered under “Meri Saheli” initiative, the disposal of the call is monitored at the level of senior officers.

  • Who was Kanaklata Barua ?

    A Fast Patrol Vessel (FPV) named ICGS Kanaklata Barua was commissioned in the Indian Coast Guard on Wednesday, in Kolkata. It is named after a teenage freedom fighter who was shot dead in Assam during the Quit India Movement.

    Who was Kanaklata Barua ?

    • One of the youngest martyrs of the Quit India Movement, Kanaklata Barua has iconic status in Assam. Barua.
    • Then 17, led the Mukti Bahini, a procession of freedom fighters to unfurl the Tricolour at Gohpur police station on September 20, 1942. When police did not let them move forward, an altercation led to firing, killing Barua at the head of the procession.
    • She had joined the Mrityu Bahini [a kind of a suicide squad] just two days before the incident. The squad strictly admitted members aged 18 and above but Kanaklata was an exception. She wanted to lead the procession and after much persuasion she was allowed to.
    •  Even as Barua fell to bullets, she did not let go of the flag. She did not want it to touch the ground. Another woman volunteer behind her — Mukunda Kakoty — came and held the flag, and she, too, was shot.

      How important is her legacy ?

    •  1940’s was a time where you saw a lot of women coming to the fore, leading processions, patriotic fervour was at its peak — and Kanaklata was a product of this time.
    • There are schools named after her, there are two statues, there is a ship. While we see her as an icon now, people in her village hated her then — she was a rebel, who questioned patriarchy.

  • How marriage age and women’s health are linked?

    PM had announced a panel to fight malnutrition in young women and ensure they get married at the right age. Take a look at how the two are linked:

    How prevalent is underage marriage?

    • Data show that the majority of women in India marry after the age of 21.
    • Chart 1 shows the mean age of women at marriage is 22.1 years, and more than 21 in all states. This does not mean that child marriages have disappeared.
    • The latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) found that about 26.8% of women aged 20-24 (Chart 2) were married before adulthood (age 18).

    Try this question for mains:

    Q. Discuss how marriage age and women’s health are linked with each other?

    How does the age of marriage correlate with health?

    • Preventing early marriage can reduce the maternal mortality ratio and infant mortality ratio.
    • At present, the maternal mortality ratio — the number of maternal deaths for every 100,000 children born — is 145.
    • India’s IMR shows that 30 of every 1,000 children born in a year die before the age of one.
    • Young mothers are more susceptible to anaemia. More than half the women of reproductive age (15-49 years) in India are anaemic.

    What delayed marriage can alter?

    • Poverty, limited access to education and economic prospects, and security concerns are the known reasons for early marriage.
    • If the main causes of early marriage are not addressed, a law will not be enough to delay marriage among girls.

    What do the data show?

    • Women in the poorest 20% of the population married much younger than their peers from the wealthiest 20% (Chart 5).
    • The average age at marriage of women with no schooling was 17.6, considerably lower than that for women educated beyond class 12 (Chart 6).
    • Almost 40% of girls aged 15-18 do not attend school, as per a report of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.
    • Nearly 65% of these girls are engaged in non-remunerative work.
    • That is why many believe that merely tweaking the official age of marriage may discriminate against the poorer, less-educated and marginalised women.

  • Hindu Women’s Inheritance Rights

    The Supreme Court has expanded a Hindu woman’s right to be a joint legal heir and inherit ancestral property on terms equal to male heirs.

    What is the ruling?

    • The SC Bench ruled that a Hindu woman’s right to be a joint heir to the ancestral property is by birth and does not depend on whether her father was alive or not when the law was enacted in 2005.
    • The Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 gave Hindu women the right to be coparceners or joint legal heirs in the same way a male heir does.
    • Since the coparcenary (heirship) is by birth, it is not necessary that the father coparcener should be living as on 9.9.2005, the ruling said.

    What is the 2005 law?

    • The Mitakshara school of Hindu law codified as the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 governed succession and inheritance of property but only recognised males as legal heirs.
    • The law applied to everyone who is not a Muslim, Christian, Parsi or Jew by religion.
    • Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains and followers of Arya Samaj, Brahmo Samaj are also considered Hindus for the purposes of this law.
    • In a Hindu Undivided Family, several legal heirs through generations can exist jointly.

    Background

    • Traditionally, only male descendants of a common ancestor along with their mothers, wives and unmarried daughters are considered a joint Hindu family.
    • The legal heirs hold the family property jointly.
    • Women were recognised as coparceners or joint legal heirs for partition arising from 2005.
    • The 174th Law Commission Report had also recommended this reform in Hindu succession law.
    • Even before the 2005 amendment, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu had made this change in the law, and Kerala had abolished the Hindu Joint Family System in 1975.

    What did the law bring in?

    • Section 6 of the Act was amended that year to make a daughter of a coparcener also a coparcener by birth “in her own right in the same manner as the son”.
    • The law also gave the daughter the same rights and liabilities “in the coparcenary property as she would have had if she had been a son”.
    • The law applies to ancestral property and to intestate succession in personal property — where succession happens as per law and not through a will.

    How did the case come about?

    • While the 2005 law granted equal rights to women, questions were raised whether the law applied retrospectively and if the rights of women depended on the living status of their father.
    • Different benches of the Supreme Court had taken conflicting views on the issue. Different High Courts had also followed different views of the top court as binding precedents.
    • The Prakash v Phulwati (2015) case held that the benefit of the 2005 amendment could be granted only to “living daughters of living coparceners” as on September 9, 2005 (the date when the amendment came to force).
    • In February 2018 a bench headed by Justice A K Sikri held that the share of a father who died in 2001 will also pass to his daughters as coparceners during the partition of the property as per the 2005 law.

    The present case

    • These conflicting views led to a reference to a three-judge Bench in the current case.
    • The ruling now overrules the verdicts from 2015 and April 2018.
    • It settles the law and expands on the intention of the 2005 legislation to remove the discrimination as contained in section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956.
    • It gave equal rights to daughters in the Hindu Mitakshara coparcenary property as the sons have.

    What was the government’s stand?

    • The solicitor argued in favour of an expansive reading of the law to allow equal rights for women. He referred to the objects and reasons of the 2005 amendment.
    • The Mitakshara coparcenary law not only contributed to discrimination on the ground of gender but was oppressive and negated the fundamental right of equality guaranteed by the Constitution.

  • State of the World Population Report 2020

    The UNFPA has released the State of the World Population Report 2020.

    Highlights of the WPR

    I) Global prospects

    • According to estimates averaged over a five year period (2013-17), annually, there were 1.2 million missing female births, at a global level.
    • The same study shows that in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan excess female mortality of girls below 5 years of age was under 3 per cent.
    • These skewed numbers translate into long-term shifts in the proportions of women and men in the population of some countries, the report points out.
    • In many countries, this results in a “marriage squeeze” as prospective grooms far outnumber prospective brides, which further results in human trafficking for marriage as well as child marriages.

    II) Data on India

    • India had about 4,60,000 girls ‘missing’ at birth each year.
    • The figure shows that the number of missing women has more than doubled over the past 50 years, who were at 61 million in 1970.
    • The report examines the issue of missing women by studying sex ratio imbalances at birth as a result of gender-biased sex selection as well as excess female mortality due to deliberate neglect of girls because of a culture of son preference.
    • Excess female mortality is the difference between observed and expected mortality of the girl child or avoidable death of girls during childhood.
    • The report cites a 2014 study to state that India has the highest rate of excess female deaths at 13.5 per 1,000 female births or one in nine deaths of females below the age of 5 due to postnatal sex selection.

    About UNFPA

    • The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), formerly the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, is a UN organization.
    • It is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.
    • Their work involves the improvement of reproductive health; including the creation of national strategies and protocols, and birth control by providing supplies and services.
    • The organization has recently been known for its worldwide campaign against child marriage, obstetric fistula and female genital mutilation.

  • The role of women in developing a knowledge economy

    The role of women in developing a knowledge economy

    Context

    Indian economic success requires scientific skills that can foster a knowledge economy, the emergence of which depends on how gender-balanced the workforce is.

    Half the scientific potential squandered

    • The requirement of the skilled workforce: A rapidly growing India requires a highly skilled technical workforce that is crucial for developing a knowledge economy.
      • Unfortunately, half the scientific potential of India—women in science—is squandered.
      • Women make up only 14% of the 280,000 scientists, engineers, and technologists in research and development institutions across the country, according to a recent study.
    • Several barriers in careers: Today, fewer women apply for or hold key scientific positions as several barriers prevent them from progressing in their careers, in comparison with their male counterparts.

    Several unacknowledged factors that disadvantage women

    • There is widespread frustration experienced by women, who find it difficult if not impossible to fulfil their scientific potential.
      • Even today, several factors that disadvantage women are not acknowledged widely enough.
    • What are the difficulties faced by women: Peer-reviewed research reports have indicated that women-
      • Scientists earn less.
      • Have less prestige within departments.
      • Have less lab space.
      • Are offered inadequate jobs on graduating with science degrees and have more teaching responsibilities.
      • They also face greater difficulty in receiving grants and therefore apply for fewer grants in the first place.
    • Imperative to tackle issues: It is imperative to tackle these issues with vigour if India is to take its rightful place among developed nations.

    Lack of informal networks

    • Women tend to lack access to informal networks that provide opportunities to work in high-profile projects.
      • Which include attending conferences abroad or on-the-job opportunities.
    • How it affects them? They lack the work experience that would enable them to rise up the ranks and provide access to the wide range of developmental models that could build the credibility they need to advance.

    Importance of mentor

    • Performance assessment is now an integral part of an organization’s performance management systems, implemented as companies move away from the age-old concepts of training and skill development.
    • How mentors matters? Mentors often help build confidence as well as professional identity in protégés and offer access to developmental opportunities, allowing individuals to demonstrate their ability and gain trust.
      • Mentors keep information channels open and provide feedback on performance in crucial times.
      • It has been noted that almost every successful woman has had a mentor at some time.

    How organizations work culture matters?

    • Unepathetic culture: Organizations often define success by the willingness of their employee to work for long hours and prioritize work over everything else—a “live to work” ideal, generally regarded as more masculine.
      • Group membership as criteria leads to discrimination: When women feel selected or assessed on the basis of group membership rather than their work record and abilities, they experience gender discrimination.
      • Women feel that an unempathetic culture is one of the most significant barriers to their advancement.
    • Gender bias as a major career obstacle: A study highlighted that only 3% of women surveyed regarded family responsibilities as their most serious career obstacle, while 50% cited gender bias.
      • Only 7% of female employees surveyed reported leaving the organization for family reasons, whereas 73% reported leaving because they saw limited opportunities.
      • Quit rate: The quit rates for women were significantly lower in organizations that provided better training and promotion opportunities.
    • The need for the employee-friendly policies: In recent years, we have witnessed an increase in the number of women with children who participate in the country’s paid workforce.
      • An organization’s culture has a significant impact on those who work within it.
      • Unfortunately, not many organizations have revised their work policies or employee expectations to enable women to strike a balance between their work and family responsibilities.
      • Flexible policies: For instance, the internet and telecom revolutions have enabled organizations to introduce employee-friendly policies such as Flexi-work hours and work-from-home that have significantly transformed workplace practices.

    Way forward

    • Need for the realisation of the full potential of women: Science needs the best scientists, and a knowledge economy needs a gender-balanced workforce. This can only be attained by realizing the full potential of women.
    • Reach out to young girls: Apart from being wasteful and unjust, the under-representation of women in science threatens the goal of achieving excellence in the field. To tackle this, we must set an ambitious target of reaching out to 1 million young girls each year and encourage them to take up science and make a difference.
    • Convention of women: A national convention of women in science must be held annually, with a specific focus on discussing and building general awareness around the major challenges that women face.

    Conclusion

    We must mobilize all our resources if India aims to be a $5 trillion economy. The gender imbalance in science and technology is a looming challenge and threatens to weaken our country’s competitive economic position. By addressing these concerns, we can empower and motivate more women to join scientific fields, unlock India’s full potential, and develop the country to become a knowledge economy.

  • Permanent Commission to Women in Indian Army

     

    • The Supreme Court brought women officers in 10 streams of the Army on a par with their male counterparts in all respects, setting aside longstanding objections of the government.
    • The case was first filed in the Delhi High Court by women officers in 2003 and had received a favourable order in 2010. But the order was never implemented and was challenged by the government.

    Women in Army: Background of the case

    • The induction of women officers in the Army started in 1992.
    • They were commissioned for a period of five years in certain chosen streams such as Army Education Corps, Corps of Signals, Intelligence Corps, and Corps of Engineers.
    • Recruits under the Women Special Entry Scheme (WSES) had a shorter pre-commission training period than their male counterparts who were commissioned under the Short Service Commission (SSC) scheme.
    • In 2006, the WSES scheme was replaced with the SSC scheme, which was extended to women officers. They were commissioned for a period of 10 years, extendable up to 14 years.
    • Serving WSES officers were given the option to move to the new SSC scheme or to continue under the erstwhile WSES.
    • They were to be, however, restricted to roles in streams specified earlier — which excluded combat arms such as infantry and armoured corps.

    2 key arguments shot down

    • The Supreme Court rejected arguments against a greater role for women officers, saying this violated equality under the law.
    • They were being kept out of command posts on the reasoning that the largely rural rank and a file will have problems with women as commanding officers. The biological argument was also rejected as disturbing.
    • While male SSC officers could opt for permanent commission at the end of 10 years of service, this option was not available to women officers.
    • They were, thus, kept out of any command appointment, and could not qualify for government pension, which starts only after 20 years of service as an officer.
    • The first batch of women officers under the new scheme entered the Army in 2008.

    Arguments by the govt.

    • The government put forth other arguments before the Supreme Court to justify the proposal on the grounds of permanent commission, grants of pensionary benefits, limitations of judicial review on policy issues, occupational hazards, reasons for discrimination against women and rationalization on physiological limitations for employment in staff appointments.
    • The apex court has rejected these arguments, saying they are “based on sex stereotypes premised on assumptions about socially ascribed roles of gender which discriminate against women”.
    • It has also said that it only shows the need “to emphasise the need for change in mindsets to bring about true equality in the Army”.

    Implications of the judgement

    • The SC has done away with all discrimination on the basis of years of service for grant of PC in 10 streams of combat support arms and services, bringing them on a par with male officers.
    • It has also removed the restriction of women officers only being allowed to serve in staff appointments, which is the most significant and far-reaching aspect of the judgment.
    • It means that women officers will be eligible to tenant all the command appointments, at par with male officers, which would open avenues for further promotions to higher ranks for them.
    • It also means that in junior ranks and career courses, women officers would be attending the same training courses and tenanting critical appointments, which are necessary for higher promotions.

    Way Forward

    • The implications of the judgment will have to be borne by the human resources management department of the Army, which will need to change policy in order to comply.
    • But the bigger shift will have to take place in the culture, norms, and values of the rank and file of the Army, which will be the responsibility of the senior military and political leadership.
    • After the Supreme Court’s progressive decision, they have no choice but to bite the proverbial bullet.