POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CHANGE AND WOMEN IN INDIA

Chandrashekhar, Dr. Mamta

POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CHANGE AND WOMEN IN INDIA

Politics - International Politics - Region: Far East

Summary

The role of women in India has changed significantly over the past few years. Globalization, urbanization, industrialization and privatization all played an important role in this development.
After India became independent, several provisions for women were added to the Constitution of India, which is now one of the most rights-based constitutions in the world. Drafted around the same time as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights- UNO (1948), the Indian Constitution captures the essence of human rights in its Preamble, and elaborates these rights further in the sections on Fundamental Rights and on the Directive Principles of State Policy. The protection of women’s rights and the enhancement of their social and economic possibilities have become important political issues.
Due to these socio- political changes, women have already gotten the opportunity to take important offices in India, including that of president, prime minister, speaker of the Lok Sabha and leader of the opposition. With the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act from 1992 and the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act from 1993, women are furthermore empowered in local level government bodies. Apart from the political changes, women in India now also participate in all social activities and take part in sports, media, art and culture, science and technology.
This book takes a look at every aspect of a woman’s life, such as education, marriage, family and health, in order to give a thorough and accurate account of the role of women in today’s India.

Excerpt

TABLE OF CHARTS

Chart 01: FEMALE ILLITERACY

Chart 02 : DOWRY DEATH

Chart 03: INTERCASE MARRIAGE

Chart 04: DIVORCE PER 1000 MARRIAGES

Chart 05: WOMEN IN LOK SABHA SINCE 1951

Chart 06: 50% SEATS RESERVED

Chart 07: STRUCTURE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Chart 08: PARTIES AND OF WOMEN'S WINGS

Chart 09: WOMEN TURNOUT IN 2014 LOK SABHA

ELECTIONS

INTRODUCTION

There are many changes in the status of women in dues to our

constitutional provisions, laws, acts and programmes. Globalization,

urbanization, Industrialization and privatization played an important

role in the changing status of women.

The concept of Human rights and all the efforts of UNO made

revolutionary changes in the field of women rights. Now an Indian

woman is better than before. She gets a lot of modern facilities like

right to vote, right to stand for any election, right to information,

better health facilities, sanitation, education, freedom to choose job

and go outside.

Now a day working women are in demand in many families for

marriage. Today many women live as a single mother; they can adopt

a child too. Divorce and remarriage are very common in the society.

Some women have faith in live in relation also.

There are many women in social, economic and political field who

have proved their potential. Now Indian women worked as a President

of India, Prime minister of India, Chair person of Lok Sabha and

Rajya Sabha, central ministers, governors, chief ministers etc. Many

women are recognized as top businesswomen too. I don't think there

is any place where women are not.

After independence, the Constitution of India made several provisions

for women of India; this is one of the most rights-based constitutions

in the world. Drafted around the same time as the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights- UNO (1948), the Indian Constitution

captures the essence of human rights in its Preamble, and the sections

on Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy

etc. In long run several laws, Acts, provisions, and reservation in local

government bodies and government sector, various schemes, plans

and programs to protect the rights of women and enhance them

towards their dignified life. Now in the present scenario government

makes policies to save girls child, a little social awareness seen in

society, Political issues concentrate on woman empowerment.

Globalization, modernization, industrialization, economic based

policies make much socio-political changes in India.

Due to these socio- political changes women got some opportunity

have adorned high offices in India including that of the President,

Prime minister, Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Leader of the

Opposition. As of 2011, the President of India, the Speaker of the Lok

Sabha and the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha are all women.

Due to the 73

Constitutional Amendment Act 1992 and the 74

Constitutional Amendment Act, 1993 woman empowered in local

level government bodies. Women in India now participate in all

activities such as education, sports, politics, media, art and culture,

service sectors, science and technology. So the status of women's

human rights in India has been subject to many great changes over the

past few years.

Changes are a natural process. Nothing is immortal here. The status of

women is also a part of the changing world. There Social change

refers to an alteration in the social order of a society. Social change

may include changes in nature

social institutions, behaviours, or

relations. The notion of social progress or socio - Cultural Revolution,

the philosophical idea that society moves forward by dialectical or

evolutionary means. It may refer to a paradigmatic change in the

socio-economic and political structure, for instance a shift away from

feudalism and towards capitalism. Accordingly, it may also refer to

social revolution.

Political change is a normal function of internal and external politics

in any part of the world or it may be in national or international

perspective. Rulers will be voted out, retire or die while in power, and

the new leader will make changes. The more powerful countries will

anticipate political change and make the process clear and smooth.

Countries that appear more prone to in-fighting and/or civil wars are

likely led by a person or group that refuses to allow political change

or lacks a clear understand of how political change is to occur.

Chapter 01

SOCIAL CHANGES AND WOMEN IN INDIA

Normally, a theory of change should include elements such as

structural aspects of change, processes and mechanisms of social

change, and directions of change. There are some theories:

HEGELIAN: In this theory the classic Hegelian dialectic model of

change is based on the interaction of opposing forces. Starting

from a point of momentary stasis, Thesis countered by Antithesis

first yields conflict, then it subsequently results in a new Synthesis

way.

MARXIST: It is a famous concept. In which Marxism presents a

dialectical and materialist concept of history; Humankind's history

is a fundamental struggle between social classes have (Elite

Class) and have not (Labour Class). Actually the great thinker Karl

Mark was devoted to up lift the life of labour class.

KUHNIAN: The great philosopher of science, Thomas Kuhn

argues in "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" with respect to

the Copernican Revolution that people are likely to continue

utilizing an apparently unworkable paradigm until a better

paradigm is commonly accepted. This is a theory which promotes a

scientific approach to analysis the social changes.

HERACLITAN: This theory described by the Greek philosopher

Heraclitus used the metaphor of a river to speak of change thus,

"On those stepping into rivers staying the same other and other

waters flow". What they seems to be suggesting here, later

interpretations notwithstanding, is that, in order for the river to

remain the river, change must constantly be taking place. Thus one

may think of this model as parallel to that of a living organism,

which, in order to remain alive, must constantly be changing.

DAOIST: The Chinese philosophical work Dao De Jing has used

the metaphor of water as the ideal agent of change. Water,

although soft and yielding, will eventually wear away stone.

Change in this model is to be natural, harmonious and steady.

The social changes that have occurred in our society from the middle

of the 19th century, it noticed the two directions in which such social

changes have proceeded. Certain changes in the traditional values and

conventions have been wholly beneficial and are the result of the

social reform movements which had or marginal influence on the

Indian society in the 19th century but gathered momentum since

1920s when the Indian National Movement became mass based

movement.

The second set of changes stared after Independence, constitute the

disturbing features of the present Indian society and have generally

turned out to be serious problems. Such features are increasing

population, increasing disorganization and gender discriminations at

all levels, crass materialism coupled with religiosity but without

morality, increase in socio-economic crimes etc. Some of the major

areas in which social - cultural change is significant in the post-

Independent India are the caste system, status of women, the status of

downtrodden classes, family etc. Social change in India may be

considered as a process through which definite alterations in the

structures and functions of a particular result of social system.

This social change may be good or bad, desirable or undesirable,

sacred or profane, progressive or regressive depending upon the

individual's perspectives and understanding level of the observer. It is

to be understood that when a particular social change occurs it will be

evaluated in the light of the thoughts, ideals, goals and theories of the

person. This type of change implies continuity. Only when certain

existing conditions, situations or things are partially modified we use

the term `change'. Any kind of social change may produce discernible

and widespread changes in the present social structures, functions,

behaviour, values, norms, and ways of life, attitudes, roles and status.

Globalization, westernization, industrialization, urbanization, and

Modernization are used to explain the direction of social change. The

various factors of social changes in India are science and technology,

legislation, education system, economic factors, planning or

programmes, religion and mass media.

After independence there had some tremendous changes in the status

of women in the society. The constitution has laid down as a

fundamental right the equality of sexes, right to vote etc, but the

change from a position of utter degradation and subjugation of

women in the nineteenth century to a position of equality in the

middle of the twentieth century is not a simple case of progress of

women in modern era. Undoubtedly in the period before 1947 there

was a considerable change in thinking, outlook and value of Indian

women. Subsequently Indian women have gradually moved towards

self-reliance and independence status. The status of Indian women

through the ages has been changing and the status, which was lost

during the middle ages and earlier parts of 19th century, has been

regained somewhat. Sometime it appears that the status of women has

gone high in India.

Many revolutionary changes have taken place in the status of women

after independence. As mentioned it before the Constitution of India

has provided some special steps to be taken by the government to

improve the condition of women by separate institutions. Due to those

constitutional provisions a quick and effective change in the status of

women was contemplated. The Constitution of India guarantees certain

fundamental rights and freedom such as protection of life and personal

liberty. Indian women are the beneficiaries of these rights in the same

manner as the Indian men. In the part 3 and 4 of Indian constitution

many privileges and provisions are described for women like:

· Equality before law -Article 14 - This is a very important

provision which provides equal legal protection to women against

any women based crime. This provision also paves way for the

introduction of various laws and acts to ensure protection and

enforcement of legal rights of women in India.

· The State not to discriminate against any citizen on grounds

only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them -

Article 15 (i) of constitution of India ensures that no one should

create any sort of discrimination only on the grounds of religion,

race, caste, sex or place of birth or any of them within the territory

of India.

At the time of Independence there was lots of discrimination in

India against women which gradually abolished after introduction

of article 15. As per article 15(3) of the constitution state has the

authority to make any special provision for women and children.

· Equal employment opportunity Article 16 of constitution of

India ensures equal employment opportunity to every citizen of

India. As per article 16 there should not be any discrimination in

respect of employment opportunity under the State only on

grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, and place of birth,

residence or any of them. Now we can see women are doing really

good work in politics and in corporate sector. Presently they are

holding responsible positions in Government and Government run

institutions.

· Equal right of adequate means of livelihood- Article 39 of

constitution of India ensures the benefit of the directive principles

of state policy to the women. Directive principles of state policy

mean guiding principles for the framing of laws by the government

at state level.

Article 39(a) of directive principles of state policy ensures and

directs a state to apply policies which focus on a man and women

have an equal right of adequate means of livelihood

Article 39(c) ensures equal pay for equal work for both men and

women.

Article

39(d)

promote

justice,

basis

equal

opportunity

and

provide

free

legal

aid

suitable

legislation

scheme

any

other

way

ensure

that

opportunities

for

securing

justice

are

not

denied

any

citizen

reason

economic

other

disabilities.

· The State to make provision for securing just and humane

conditions of work and for maternity relief - Article 42 of

constitution of India caste a duty on every employer to ensure just

and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief. In reality

the position and treatment of women in corporate offices is really

bad and in fact they are exploited by their seniors and bosses. In

this scenario these provisions are very important and now it is duty

of employer to provide good working conditions to all the

employees.

· Promote with special care -Article 46- The State to promote

with special care the educational and economic interests of the

downtrodden and to protect them from social injustice and all

forms of exploitation.

· The State to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of

living of its people-(Article 4

· To promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood

amongst all the people of India and to renounce practices

derogatory to the dignity of women -Article 51(A) (e)

· Panchayat to be reserved for women -Article 243 D (3) - Not

less than one-third (including the number of seats reserved for

women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled

Tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in

every Panchayat to be reserved for women and such seats to be

allotted by rotation to different constituencies in Panchayats.

Not less than one- third of the total number of offices of

Chairpersons in the Panchayats at every level to be

reserved for women --Article 243 D (4)

Not less than one-third (including the number of seats

reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes

and the Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to

be filled by direct election in every Municipality to be

reserved for women and such seats to be allotted by

rotation to different constituencies in a Municipality --

Article 243 T (3)

Reservation of offices of Chairpersons in Municipalities

for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and

women in such manner as the legislature of a State may

provide by law (Article 243 T (4))

Apart from there provisions a series of laws passed for the upliftment

of women in the post-independent India. These legislations have been

brought in order to give equal rights and privileges with men, to

eliminate discriminations against women, remove inequality between

sexes, and remove external barriers coming in the way of their self-

realisation and development. Although the all laws are not gender

specific, the provisions of law affecting women significantly have

been reviewed periodically and amendments carried out to keep pace

with the emerging requirements. Some minor acts which have special

provisions to safeguard women and their interests are:

· Guardians & Wards Act, 1890

· Christian Marriage Act, 187

· Indian Evidence Act, 1872

· Married Women's Property Act, 1874

· Workmen's compensation Act, 1923

· Indian Successions Act, 1925

· Immoral Traffic (prevention) Act, 1956

· Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961

· Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987

· Cinematograph Act, 1952

· Births, Deaths & Marriages Registration Act, 1886

· Minimum Wages Act, 1948

· Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012

· Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929

· Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application,193

· Indecent Representation of Women(Prevention) Act,1986

· Special Marriage Act, 1954

· Hindu Marriage Act, 1955

· Hindu Successions Act, 1956

· Foreign Marriage Act, 1969

· Family Courts Act, 1984

· Maternity Benefit Act,1861

· Hindu Adoption & Maintenance ACT,1956

· Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973

· Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act,1971

· National Commission for Women Act, 1990

· The Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques

(Prohibition of Sex Selection)] Act, 1994

· Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005

· Sexual Harassment of Women at Work Place (Prevention,

Prohibition & Redressal) Act, 2013

· Indian Divorce Act, 1969

· Equal Remuneration Act, 1976

· Hindu Widows Remarriage Act, 1856

· Muslim women (protection of rights on divorce) Act, 1986

· The Employees State Insurance Act, 1948

· The Plantation Labour Act, 1951

· The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1976

· The Factories (Amendment) Act, 1986

· The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005

It is well known that the freedom movement in India generated great

awareness among women about their social right and their social

responsibilities in the larger social order one result of this was the

manifestation of a new creative urge among women in post-

independent.

Chapter 02

CHANGES IN WOMEN EDUCATION

Besides legislations, education was also regarded as an important factor

in raising the status of women in society. Therefore, active steps were

taken to promote women's education. Immediately after independence

it was realised that unless half of our population are exposed to

educational process, modernisation of our society would be a distant

dream. Various Committees and Commissions emphasized the need for

equalization of educational opportunities. This led to opening of

different schools and colleges, especially for women.

Now getting education is the fundamental human right of every

individual irrespective of gender. But some people in our society do not

understand this and make such a simple thing extremely complicated.

We must be aware of the fact that if she is uneducated then close to half

of the population is uneducated. Educating a woman means educating

the family, whole society and the nation. `Education for all' is one of

the major tasks being carried out by the Indian government but still we

have the lowest female literacy rate in Asia. India is working but the

pace is slow as we haven't achieved what we should have been so far.

Before independence just 2-6% of females were literate. After that the

percentage went up to 15.3% in 1961 and 28.5% in 1981. Literacy

rate crossed 50% in 2001. By 2011 female literacy rate in India stood

at 65.46%. So there is an obvious increase in the female literacy rate

but India is far behind as compared to other countries at global level.

Female illiteracy rate varies with the state. In Kerala 86% of women

are literate whereas literacy rate in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh is just

between 55-60%. Shockingly the rural areas of India have the lowest

female literacy rate. Rural Rajasthan has less than 12% female

literacy rate.

It is a well known fact that due to awareness and many governmental

and non-governmental efforts; though it is gradually increasing, the

female literacy rate in India is less than the male literacy rate; the

literacy rate is 60.6% for females, while for males it is 81.3%. Far

fewer girls than boys are enrolled in school, and many girls drop out.

In urban India, girls are nearly on a par with boys in terms of

education. However, in rural India girls continue to be less well-

educated than boys. According to the National Sample Survey Data of

1997, only the states of Kerala and Mizoram have approached

universal female literacy. The major factor behind improvements in

the social and economic status of women in Kerala is literacy.

Sex based discrimination is prevalent in India and there are many

facilities provided to the girls child after that many parents especially

in lower strata of society send their male child to school but not the

girl child. This is one problem where parents do not send their

daughters to school. Secondly, it is also common to see that parents

especially in urban areas often send their male child to better schools.

Even if girls are enrolled, their dropout rate is very high.

We must understand the consequences of not educating our girl child.

When a woman is not educated then it not only affects her but the

entire family as well as the society or Nation. In many studies it has

been found out that illiterate women have high fertility as well as

mortality rate. It has been seen that infant mortality rate reduces to

half in case women have received primary education as compared to

illiterate female. Apart from this children, of illiterate woman are

malnourished. Illiteracy also reduces the overall earning potential of

the family.

Women must be educated for a healthy and a happy life of female and

whole family. An educated woman can be a better human being,

successful mother and a responsible citizen. Educating women will

definitely increase the living standard both at her own home and

outside too. An educated woman will force her kids to study further

and wish them to live a better life than hers. Educating women results

in promoting self respect and also helps in raising the status of

women. An educated woman will be aware of her rights. She can

fight against social evils such as crime at work place, domestic

violence, dowry demand, unequal wages etc.

When we take a look on the historical aspect of women's education is

full of up and down. The East India Company's Programme `Wood's

Dispatch' recognized the employment and education of women in

India in 1854. Initially only the richer sections of the society and

primary level of education were focused under this programme. With

the help of this, female literacy rate in India raised from 0.2% in 1882

to 6% in 1947.

After independence, the University Education Commission was

created with an aim to improve the quality of education through

suggestions. But it was against female education and considered

educating women irrelevant. (I must say that it forgot that managing

home is a full time job in itself and needs mind). The commission

regarded female education as the waste of time. However numbers of

educated females were increasing in number and created a need of a

body to work towards this. Therefore, in 1958 government appointed

a national committee on women's education. In one of its

recommendations it said that female education must be brought to the

level of boys' education. Such talks resulted in many such committees

and ultimately led to the formation of the Education Commission in

1964.

Though many steps have been taken so far to improve the education

level of women in India but the 86th Constitutional Amendment Act,

2002 has been a commendable step in this regard. Under this act

elementary education was made free and compulsory for the children

belonging to the age group of 6-14 years. This initiated Sarva Shiksha

Abhiyan (SSA). SSA is the main programme to achieve

Universalization of Elementary Education (UEE) in a time bound

manner.

Under the Non-Formal Education programme (NFE), about 40% of

the NFE centres in states and 10% of the centres in UTs are

exclusively reserved for females. As of 2000, about 300,000 NFE

centres were catering to about 7.42 million children. About 120,000

NFE centres were exclusively for girls.

According to a 1998 report by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the

chief barriers to female education in India are inadequate school

facilities (such as sanitary facilities), shortage of female teachers and

gender bias in the curriculum (female characters being depicted as

weak and helpless).

Apart from this there are midday meal schemes, free distribution of

uniforms and books for girls. But still we have to work towards many

issues such as infrastructure; teacher is to student ratio, safety of

female children at school, better curriculum, sanitation facilities so

that more and more girls can be educated. Moreover parents must

understand the importance of education and must not differentiate

their male and female child. We must understand that an educated

woman is able to play all her roles with greater responsibility than

uneducated one to student ratio, safety of female children at school,

better curriculum, sanitation facilities so that more and more girls can

get education. Recently the Indian government has launched

"Saakshar Bharat Mission" for Female Literacy. This mission aims to

bring down female illiteracy by half of its present level female

literacy rate of less than 12 percent. Now, what are the changes in the

women educational status? The below table is showing all the

conditions:

Chart 01

FEMALE ILLITERACY

The education of women in India plays a significant role in improving

livings standards in the country. A higher women literacy rate

improves the quality of life both at home and outside the home, by

encouraging and promoting education of children, especially female

children, and in reducing the infant mortality rate. Several studies

have shown that a lower level of women literacy rates results in

1961

1971

1981

1991

2001

2011

Females

Males

higher levels of fertility and infant mortality, poorer nutrition, lower

earning potential and the lack of an ability to make decisions within a

household. Women's lower educational levels are also shown to

adversely affect the health and living conditions of children. A survey

that was conducted in India showed results which support the fact that

infant mortality rate was inversely related to female literacy rate and

educational level. The survey also suggests a correlation between

education and economic growth.

There is a large disparity between female literacy rates in different

states. For example, while Kerala actually has a female literacy rate of

about 86 percent, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have female literacy rates

around 55-60 percent. These values are further correlated with health

levels of the Indians, where it was found that Kerala was the state

with the lowest infant mortality rate while Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are

the states with the lowest life expectancies in India. Furthermore, the

disparity of female literacy rates across rural and urban areas is also

significant in India. Out of the 24 states in India, 6 of them have

female literacy rates of below 60 percent. The rural state Rajasthan

has a literacy rate of India in 2011 is 74.04%. The Male literacy rate

is 82.14% and Female literacy rate is 65.46% according to Census

2011.

Among the Indian states, Kerala has the highest literacy rate 93.91%

and then Mizoram 91.58%. Among the Union Territories

Lakshadweep has the highest literacy rate of 92.28%. Bihar has the

lowest literacy rate in India with 63.82% .The Male literacy is highest

in Lakshadweep 96.11% and Kerala 96.02%. The Female literacy is

highest in Kerala 91.98% and Mizoram 89.40%. Lowest male literacy

is in Bihar 73.39%. Lowest female literacy is in Rajasthan 52.66%.

Here is the table of Male and female literacy rate in different states of

India:

Table 01

LITERACY RATE MALE AND FEMALE INDIA

2011 CENSUS

STATES/UT TOTAL

LITERACY

RATE

MALE

LITERACY

RATE

FEMALE

LITERACY

RATE

INDIA

74.04 82.14 65.46

01 Jammu

Kashmir 68.74

78.26

58.01

02 Himachal

Pradesh 83.78

90.83

76.60

03 Punjab

76.68

81.48

71.34

04 Chandigarh

86.43

90.54

81.38

05 Uttarakhand

79.63

88.33

70.70

06 Haryana

76.64

85.38

66.77

NCT of Delhi

86.34

91.03

80.93

08 Rajasthan

67.06

80.51

52.66

09 Uttar

Pradesh

69.72

79.24

59.26

10 Bihar

63.82

73.39

53.33

11 Sikkim

82.20

87.29

76.43

12 Arunachal

Pradesh 66.95

73.69

59.57

13 Nagaland

80.11

83.29

76.69

14 Manipur

79.85

86.49

73.17

15 Mizoram

91.58

93.72

89.40

16 Tripura

87.75

92.18

83.15

17 Meghalaya

75.48

77.17

73.78

18 Assam

73.18

78.81

67.27

19 West

Bengal

77.08

82.67

71.16

20 Jharkhand

67.63

78.45

56.21

21 Orissa

73.45

82.40

64.36

22 Chhattisgarh

71.04

81.45

60.59

23 Madhya

Pradesh 70.63

80.53

60.02

24 Gujarat

79.31

87.23

70.73

25 Daman

Diu

87.07

91.48

79.59

Dadra & Nagar

Haveli

77.65 86.46 65.93

27 Maharashtra

82.91

89.82

75.48

28 Andhra

Pradesh 67.66

75.56

59.74

29 Karnataka

75.60

82.85

68.13

30 Goa

87.40

92.81

81.84

31 Lakshadweep

92.28

96.11

88.25

32 Kerala

93.91

96.02

91.98

33 Tamil

Nadu

80.33

86.81

73.86

34 Puducherry

86.55

92.12

81.22

35 Andaman

Nicobar Islands #

86.27 90.11 81.84

In India, higher education is defined as the education of an age group

between 18 and 24, and is largely funded by the government. Despite

women making up 24-50% of higher education enrollment, there is

still a gender imbalance within higher education. Only one third of

science students and 7% of engineering students are women. In

comparison, however, over half the students studying are women.

Chapter 03

CHILD MARRIAGE

Due to laws, education system and social awareness whole scenario

changed. This a noticeable social changes in India child marriage was

outlawed in 1929, under Indian law. However, in the British colonial

times, the legal minimum age of marriage was set at 15 for girls and

18 for boys. Child marriage is complex subject under Indian law. The

1929 law for non-Muslims was revised a several times after India

gained its independence from the colonial rule, particularly in 1978

when the marriage age was raised by 3 years each for men and

women. The applicability and permissibility of child marriage among

Muslims under the 1937 Act, under India's Constitution adopted in

1950, remains a controversial subject, with a series of Supreme Court

cases and rulings. The definition of child marriage was last updated

by India with its The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act of 2006,

which applies only (a) to Hindus, Christians, Jains, Buddhists and

those who are non-Muslims of India, and (b) outside the state of

Jammu and Kashmir. For Muslims of India, child marriage definition

and regulations based on Sharia and Nikah has been claimed as a

personal law subject. For all others, The Prohibition of Child

Marriage Act of 2006 defines "child marriage" means a marriage, or a

marriage about to be solemnized, to which either of the contracting

parties is a child; and child for purpose of marriage is defined, based

on gender of the person; if a male, he is 21 years of age, and if a

female, 18 years of age.

Child marriage tradition in India has social reasons too. Indians

performed child marriages to get their girls protected against rapes

and abductions by foreign rulers. The other reason was to strengthen

family relations and bonds, and to satisfy the elder people who

wanted to see their grand children marriages before their death.

However in child marriage system, the parents used to send their girls

to their husband's house only after attaining puberty. Child marriages

caused the young couple to lead family life regardless of likes and

dislikes. In some economically poor families, the parents used to

perform marriages to their under aged girls even with much elderly

men because poverty in India has been cited as a cause of early

marriages. Child marriages of girls is a way out of desperate

economic conditions, and way to reduce the expenses of a poor family

Some families used to perform child marriages with a fear that the

children may deviate off the track after reaching teenage. In some

villages children are forced to marry as their parents create pressure

on them, because if young girls are not married, the whole family is

abandoned from the village.

Now we come to know that young girls in a child marriage are more

likely to experience domestic violence in their marriages as opposed

to older women. Girls who marry earlier in life are less likely to be

informed about reproductive issues, and because of this, pregnancy-

related deaths are known to be the leading cause of mortality among

married girls. Now they used to go school, or colleges than get

marriage at the age of 25, or after that age so in urban areas of India

the rate of the girl child marriage seems to be decreased. The table

below provides some of child marriage estimates for India.

Table 02

GIRL CHILD MARRIAGE

Source %

Females

married

(< 18)

Data

Year

Sampling

method

Census of

India

43.4 1981

Nationwide

census

Census of

India

35.3 1991

Nationwide

census

Census of

India

14.4 2001

Nationwide

census

Census of

India

3.7 2011

Nationwide

census

But still there is need to think over the issues as according to a U.N.

report India had the highest number of unregistered children under

age five between 2000 and 2012 and the second-highest number of

child marriages, The International Center for Research on Women-

UNICEF publications have estimated India's child marriage rate to be

47% from small sample surveys of 1998,

while the United Nations

reports it to be 30% in 2005. The Census of India has counted and

reported married women by age, with proportion of females in child

marriage falling in each 10 year census period since 1981. In its 2001

census report, India stated zero married girls below age 10, 1.4

million married girls out of 59.2 million girls in the age 10-14, and

11.3 million married girls out of 46.3 million girls in the age 15-19

(which includes 18-19 age group).

Since 2001, child marriage rates in

India have fallen another 46%, reaching an overall nationwide

average 7% child marriage rates by 2009.

The states with highest observed marriage rates for under-18 girls in

2009, according to a Registrar General of India report, were

Jharkhand (14.1%), West Bengal (13.6%), Bihar (9.3%), Uttar

Pradesh (8.9%) and Assam (8.8%). According to this report, despite

sharp reductions in child marriage rates since 1991, still 7% of

women passing the age of 18 in India were married as of 2009.

UNICEF India has played a significant role in highlighting the Indian

child marriage rate prevalence data from its 1990s study. According

to 2011 nationwide census of India, the average age of marriage for

women in India is 21.2. In the age group 15-19, 69.6% of all women

surveyed in India had never been married.

In my point of view Child marriage is a serious human rights

violation affecting children's and women's rights to health,

education, equality, non-discrimination and to live free from

violence and exploitation. These are rights enshrined in the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the

Rights of the Child (CRC), the Convention on the Elimination of

All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), as well as

other international and regional human rights instruments.

In some cases, child marriage could be considered slavery. When

children are bought and sold under the guise of marriage for the

purposes of sexual exploitation or when they are trafficked into

forced marriages, their cases meet internationally recognised

definitions of slavery or slavery-like practices.

Chapter 04

DOWRY AND DOWRY DEATH

Now a day dowry graph has decreased, there are many families who

are not interested in dowry. Their main focus is on girl's education

and soft skill only. Inter caste marriage and love marriage also play a

great role to decrease the number. It a good sign that women also

aware, many they stand to oppose the dowry system. There are many

cases where Bharat returned due to the courage of girls.

Dowry is evil which is found among all religious faiths in India, and

the amount of dowry demanded and given by the bride's family has

been correlated to the age of girl. Actually it is a practice in India

where the bride's family transfers wealth to the groom; in many cases,

it is a demand and condition of marriage from the groom's family..

In India, Dowry refers to the durable goods, cash, and real or movable

property that the bride's family gives to the bridegroom, his parents,

or his relatives as a condition of the marriage. It is essentially in the

nature of a payment in cash or some kind of gifts given to the

bridegroom's family along with the bride and includes cash, jewelry,

electrical appliances, furniture, bedding, crockery, utensils and other

household items that help the newlyweds set up their home.

Dowry is referred to as Jahez in Arabic. In far eastern parts of India,

dowry is called Aaunnpot.

The dowry system is thought to put great financial burden on the

bride's family. In some cases, the dowry system leads to crime against

women, ranging from emotional abuse, injury to even deaths.

The payment of dowry has been prohibited under specific Indian laws

including, the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 and subsequently by

Sections 304B and 498A of the Indian Penal Code.

The ancient Code of Manu sanctioned dowry and bridewealth in

ancient India, but dowry was the more prestigious form and

associated with the Brahmanic (priestly) caste. Bridewealth was

restricted to the lower castes, who were not allowed to give dowry.

He cites two studies from the early 20th century with data to suggest

that this pattern of dowry in upper castes and bride wealth in lower

castes has persisted through the first half of the 20th century.

However, it is more likely that marriages involved both reciprocal

gifts between the two families, claims Tambiah, so that insofar as the

groom's family gives the bridewealth, it tends to be given back as the

culturally validated dowry to the bride as part of her conjugal estate.

Michael Witzel, in contrast, claims the ancient Indian literature

suggests dowry practices were not significant during the Vedic

period. The findings of Mac Donell and Keith are similar to Witzel,

Details

Pages
Type of Edition: Erstausgabe
Year: 2016
ISBN (PDF): 9783960675150
ISBN (Softcover): 9783960670155
File size: 1.1 MB
Language: English
Institution / College: Mata Jijabai Govt. Girls' P. G. College
Publication date: 2016 (March)
Keywords: India Constitution Women Women's rights Human rights Social change Political change

Author

Dr. Mamta Chandrashekhar (Author)

POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CHANGE AND WOMEN IN INDIA

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Excerpt

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Author

Dr. Mamta Chandrashekhar (Author)