India's Roadmap For Women
Anivar Aravind
Editorial
India's Roadmap For Women [ 2006-9-18 ]
By Deepti Priya Mehrotra
?IF gender components are integrated into government policy, funds can
be allocated, action taken on a large scale, and women's conditions
improved. We think it is important to mainstream gender into the
developmental process," says Dr. Pam Rajput of India's NAWO (National
Alliance of Women's Organisations). This is the thinking behind NAWO's
initiative towards engendering India's Eleventh Five-Year Plan, in
coordination with the Ministry of Women and Child Development, UNIFEM
and UNDP.
Consultations
This civil society initiative kicked off in December 2005 with the
formation of a think tank consisting of representatives of women's
organisations, activists and academics. The think tank held five
regional-level consultations with grassroots women during April-July
2006, in Chandigarh, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Shillong and Kolkata, as
well as two national consultations.
Over 1,000 women expressed their views at these consultations.
Taking this as a guideline, think tank members prepared ?Voices: Women
Redefining Development', a comprehensive document that was presented
to the Planning Commission on August 29, 2006, at a meeting chaired by
Montek Singh Ahluwalia. Several recommendations were well received by
the Planning Commission, while some were questioned, challenged and/or
discussed threadbare.
Ten years ago, a similar think tank brought on board hundreds of
women's organisations to gender-audit past plans and articulate
priorities for the Ninth Plan. Inclusion of several recommendations
made the Ninth Plan the most gender-sensitive Plan up to then. The
present Planning Commission is also likely to include many of the
recommendations currently being proposed.
Ruth Manorama, well-known Dalit leader from Karnataka, elucidates: ?We
have recommended that Dalit women be considered a separate category,
with specific Plan provisions and budgetary allocation.
Basically, we want access to health, education, credit, water and land
allotment on a priority basis for Dalit women. This proposal has been
accepted in principle. This will be the first time that a Five-Year
Plan makes such a move. We have proposed that women from the minority
communities, tribals and other disadvantaged sections also receive
attention so that their basic rights as citizens are ensured."
Dr. Vibhuti Patel, Head, Department of Economics at SNDT Women's
University, Mumbai, notes, ?Liberalisation has adversely affected
marginalised women. But Planning Commission members did not agree
easily. Montek Singh Ahluwalia said that structural adjustment always
affects some sections of society adversely. But we said, the impact is
very widespread and it is not acceptable. Large sections of people are
getting poorer, losing resources and livelihoods, and there is
feminisation of poverty. This has to be taken seriously."
Dr. Asha Kapur-Mehta of the Indian Institute of Public Administration,
says, ?We have especially flagged health concerns, because poor health
pushes women into poverty, and further exacerbates the conditions of
those who are already poor." Preventive and curative public health
services should be ensured, as also clean water and toilet facilities.
Similarly education of girls is to receive high priority - the
recommendation is that 6 per cent of GDP (gross domestic product) be
invested to enhance girls' and women's education at all levels.
Other broad recommendations with far-reaching implications include
redefinition of the poverty line, poverty measures and minimum wages
in a way that reflects economic realities. Also, the definition of
work should be expanded so as to include various categories of women
workers who fall outside the current criteria. Many women work all
their lives to add to family resources, and they should receive all
the social security benefits that are being proposed for informal
sector workers.
Dr. Indira Hirway of the Centre for Development Alternatives,
Ahmedabad, points out, ?There are even mechanisms for measuring
women's unpaid work, such as making ?satellite budgets' in the
national accounting system, which recognise this labour. However, we
have not really included this as a recommendation yet." Many members
felt that the time is not yet ripe for this suggestion.
Concerns of women from the Northeast, and from Jammu and Kashmir, have
received special attention. The impact of conflict on women, the ways
in which this impact can be mitigated, as also inclusion of women from
these areas in mainstream development have been emphasised. Gender
dimensions in the context of disasters and displacement have received
due attention. The ?Voices' document proposes that, ?No displacement
can be done without a clearance certificate from a committee
consisting of human rights activists and the concerned populations,
including women." Wherever land is allotted for rehabilitation, it
should preferably be to women, or as joint ownership.
Recommendations have been made for the protection of the rights of
marginalised women, including sex workers, women who are HIV+ and
women with disabilities. Elimination of all forms of violence against
women has been described as a prerequisite for development. Existing
laws need to be implemented, with appropriate monitoring mechanisms,
safe and sensitised support services, shelter homes and fast-track
courts. As one member succinctly put it, ?If the girl child does not
survive, who are we doing all this planning for?"
A central idea proposed is the promotion of ?W-Governance' (governance
by women). The gender gap that exists at every level of governance
needs to be overcome. In fact, the document points out that the
Planning Commission itself should have more women members - a minimum
of 33 per cent members should be women. This is also true for State
Planning Boards.
A separate Ministry for Women, headed by a Cabinet-rank minister has
been recommended. As matters stand, the Ministry for Women and Child
Development tends to allocate only about 11 per cent of its funds for
women, the remaining 89 percent being reserved for children. A strong
case is being made for gender budgeting as well as sex-disaggregated
data in every governmental ministry and department, as well as in
private and public sector undertakings.
Bottom-up approach
This women's initiative to engender the Eleventh Plan in many ways
illustrates what it is recommending - a bottom-up approach, with
in-built strategies for participation and inclusion of the
dispossessed and marginalised. Rather than sit back as victims, women
have decided to stand up for their rights - not only in the family and
at the workplace, but also at the level of national policymaking.
Will this gargantuan effort actually make a difference? Clearly, it is
a serious effort at bridging the gap between women on the ground and
the men in high places - so that the voices of grassroots women reach
those who make decisions at the top. By integrating women's claims
into the planning process, it is hoped that gender justice will become
an essential part of development.
- Women's Feature Service