Identifying Heterogeneity, Possibility and Equality= EQUITY

Women constitute almost half of the total population in India and their involvement in different walk of life has been improved but still lag behind the male counterpart. This is quite difficult scenario of comparison, when the status of women is compare with men.  Even at global stage, the huge gap between women’s and men’s educational achievement (Jejeebhoy, 1995) and also gender disparities prevail in employment scenario. This is easy to conclude that the patriarchy or its effect on socio-economic or cultural structure is solely responsible for this discrimination at India and also at global level. But, the question of gender discrimination goes beyond the paradigm of patriarchy.

This is principally acknowledged that the educated and economically independent women behave positively in the household situation and less gender discrimination is expected in this kind of household. In certain extent, this co-relational aspect show that the improvement in the health status of women in many countries. But, there is another argument which shows that the role of women education in bringing about declining fertility should not disregard the role of children’s education, especially immediate cost of such education to parents, as being instrumental in setting off changes in the parents’ fertility behavior (Caldwell 1982). This positive correlation of the education among women and their fertility is also not significant in decreasing the gender discrimination in many countries.

The situation in South Asian countries, especially India, is quite different. There are many studies and reports clearly show that the key reason that mothers prefer to invest in boys more than girls is a perception that the returns are higher from boy child when he becomes adult.

When we think about health in general and women health in particular, the whole idea of better women’s’ health is defined in the macro perspective. The World Health Organization (WHO) has defined health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well being”, the sheer objective of the comprehensive definition of general well being rather than reducing the concept of health in to diseases. Therefore, the status of women in India in context of one or two variables cannot be judged but, these variables expand the horizon of analysis and provide the dimension to look ahead in improving the overall status of women.

Noted Indian sociologist rightly described India as “a congeries of micro regions” (Srinivas, 1978). The status of women is also not free from the socio cultural and historical variation on the basis of regions, classes, castes, religions, economic groups, family and kinship patterns, culture and social practices. On the one side, despite of the clash between modern and traditional value system in the society and the improvement of women status is gradually moving ahead in the society too.

The changes in the status of women are positive sign and this is a gradual process, but the kind of change in the status of women is equally happening in every part of the country, this is a big question? Some visible educational achievement by girls student and but also working in the areas, which was traditionally a boy zone, which anticipates about the brighter side of status enhancement of women in future.

Numerous strides have been taken over the last three decades to enhance or rather to improve the status of women in India. However, there have been some notable achievements, such as a ‘14.87 percent increase in female literacy whereas male literacy rate rose by 11.72 percent. A statistical review of women’s status reveals the many challenges that remain exist in the country. There is slow progress in many areas and when we observe the literacy rate among the women of tribal, dalit, backward classes and minority specially Muslim community, the percentage speaks a different language. This again arises question on the whole idea of women’s status in India. Even the classification of the women from Urban to Rural areas, the visibility of women in the urban area is better than the rural areas. The “invisibility” (Presvelou, 1975) in the form of physical and social among the women is quite prevalent in many countries, but the ‘the rural women in South Asian countries, (except Sri Lanka) more invisible than anywhere else in the world, with the exception of the Middle East and North America (Population Change, Development and Women’s Role and Status in India; UNDP, 1975).

There are many valid reasons behind the invisibility of the rural women in India, in which, one of the significant one is lack of access to resource and slow pace of socio economic mobility in the rural family status. However, the experience of gender discrimination is also being held by the visible women in India. The top officers in Indian Administrative Services also face the gender based preferential treatment and rules (Naila Kabeer and Ramya Subrahmaniaan 1999) in their posting and career growth. The gender based discrimination is largely reinforcing the stereotyping image of women in India; irrespective of the women belong to rural area or working as top officer in the government.

The status of women has certainly improved and developed in many fronts (education, health, political leadership at Village Councils) and the changes in the societal attitude towards women are also changing though slowly. The social mobility of women in India is more socially and culturally advantageous than male social mobility. The mobility of the women inspires many girls to follow them. This is hard to statistically prove that whether the inspiration or dream matters in enhancing the social structure or not, but this is considered the first step to make one’s ready to change one’s life. As far as women’s political mobility is concerned in India, the situation is also not better in the other countries, especially among the developed countries of the world too. For instance, Switzerland ranked 12^th in the United Nations’ Human Development Index (HDI) Ranking.

However, the policy to promote women in leadership through affirmative action has created more space for women in leadership position at village level in India. The ongoing demand for such kind of affirmative action would be helpful to bring more women into the highest level, initially at least to participate in decision making process.