Wednesday 14 July 2004

Burning Issues Associated With Gender Inequality in India

In spite of the indefatigable efforts of the Indian government, the social leaders and the rational section of the population, gender equality continues to face innumerable problems giving birth to the most abhorrent sort of discrimination in India. Conventional rules of patriarchy seem to have seized from women the fundamental human right of equal status and opportunity in household and workplace, painfully affecting their condition in various aspects such as health, finance, political say and education. Marriage of young females is a common practice in India, with continuous pressure over them to become mothers, subsequently burdening them with heavy financial and domestic responsibilities of household. Due to the illogical custom of females hardly receiving any medical attention and being fed the last in some families has led to their widespread malnutrition.

In India, the literacy rate of men (76%) by far exceeds that of women (54%). Even though women have been advancing in the modern society as well as industry, a great proportion of women is still bereft of schooling and unbiased laws related to divorce and inheritance, which disables women to gather wealth and assets, consequently preventing their monetary and social independence and inhibiting autonomy in their lives.

Sheer evidence of gender inequality in India is present in rural areas of Rajasthan where the seasonal migration of men to accumulate enough resources for the family leaves females alone to look after the household and earn with mediocre jobs at relatively very low wages. This tradition sweeps off any chances of social and educational development of women. Moreover, similar to several other parts of the country, preference of sons over daughters is prominent in this region due to the backward views of folks in context of financial advantage and social ranks. Aggravated cases of this erroneous thought process lead to female feticide and infanticide, and child marriage.

Numerous Non-Governmental Organizations across India have taken the issue into their hands and are rigorously working to achieve equal rights, respect and opportunities for the lesser gender in the Indian society. The most common and effective method opted for this purpose is the formation of economic self-help groups among networks of women to aid them in management and the use of notions about microfinance. At the local level, these organizations encourage the cottage- and finance- skills of women through the implementation of projects that generate substantial funds by selling their output abroad.

The need of the hour is an organized revolution at the local and national levels in order to improve female participation in all activities with the objective of attaining an unbiased society free of stereotypes. By generating awareness among the population of the great sexual divide predominant in the country, the goal of an ideal sustainable position of women in the society can be achieved. With a large number of urban women advancing in all fields in the modern world, it ought to be easier to awaken the presently irrational minds of people towards gender equality.

Tarun Kumar Sharma is an independent content writer with more than a decade of experience in professional web based content writing for hundreds of domains.