Role of Women and Women's Organisations

Why this topic matters

The GS Paper 1 syllabus names the "role of women and women's organisation" directly, and questions on women appear in GS1, GS2 (welfare schemes, vulnerable sections), GS3 (labour force), GS4 (ethics of gender justice) and the Essay paper. A good answer combines history, data, laws, schemes and an analysis of social attitudes. Women are about 48 per cent of India's population, and their status shapes health, education, the economy and democracy.

Women in Indian history: a quick view

• Vedic period: women such as Gargi, Maitreyi and Lopamudra took part in philosophical debates; women could attend assemblies. Status declined in the later Vedic and post-Vedic period with child marriage and restrictions.
• Medieval period: purdah, sati and child marriage spread in some regions, but there were also rulers such as Razia Sultan, Rani Durgavati and Ahilyabai Holkar, and Bhakti saints such as Mirabai, Akka Mahadevi and Lal Ded.
• Colonial reform: Raja Ram Mohan Roy campaigned against sati (abolished 1829); Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar pushed the Widow Remarriage Act (1856); Jyotiba and Savitribai Phule opened a girls' school in Pune in 1848; Pandita Ramabai and Tarabai Shinde wrote against patriarchy; the Sarda Act (1929) raised the age of marriage.
• Freedom struggle: women joined mass movements in large numbers – Sarojini Naidu, Kasturba Gandhi, Aruna Asaf Ali (hoisted the flag in 1942), Usha Mehta (secret Congress radio), Kalpana Dutt, and the Rani of Jhansi Regiment of the INA under Captain Lakshmi Sahgal. Fifteen women were members of the Constituent Assembly, including Hansa Mehta, who helped change "all men" to "all human beings" in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Status of women today: key indicators

The rise in female labour force participation is driven largely by rural self-employment and unpaid family work in agriculture, so the quality of work remains a concern. Women do about five hours a day of unpaid domestic and care work, much more than men (Time Use Survey 2024).

Problems women face

• Missing women and son preference: sex-selective abortion and neglect of girls skew the child sex ratio, especially in the north-west; Amartya Sen estimated millions of "missing women".
• Violence: domestic violence, dowry deaths, sexual harassment, trafficking, acid attacks and online abuse. NCRB data record over 4 lakh crimes against women a year, and much more goes unreported.
• Health and nutrition: about 57 per cent of women aged 15–49 are anaemic (NFHS-5); early marriage harms maternal health.
• Economic exclusion: low ownership of land and assets, wage gaps, concentration in informal work, and the "motherhood penalty".
• Political under-representation in legislatures, though not in panchayats.
• Social norms: restrictions on mobility and choice of marriage, and the double burden of paid and unpaid work.

Legal and constitutional safeguards

• Constitution: equality (Art. 14), no discrimination on sex (Art. 15(1)) with special provisions for women allowed (Art. 15(3)), equal pay for equal work (Art. 39(d)), maternity relief (Art. 42), renouncing practices derogatory to women (fundamental duty, Art. 51A(e)), and one-third reservation in panchayats and municipalities (73rd and 74th Amendments, Arts. 243D and 243T); about 20 states have raised this to 50 per cent.
• Women's Reservation Act (106th Amendment, 2023): reserves one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women; it will come into force after the next census and delimitation.
• Key laws: Dowry Prohibition Act (1961); Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (2005); Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (POSH) Act (2013), based on the Vishaka guidelines (1997); Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 after the Nirbhaya case; PCPNDT Act (1994) against sex selection; Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 (26 weeks' paid leave); Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 (criminalising instant triple talaq); and the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (2023), which has a separate chapter on offences against women and children.
• Judgments: *Shayara Bano* (2017) on triple talaq; *Joseph Shine* (2018) decriminalising adultery; *Indian Young Lawyers Association* (2018) on Sabarimala; *Secretary, Ministry of Defence v. Babita Puniya* (2020) granting permanent commission to women officers.

Government schemes

• Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (2015) – to improve the child sex ratio and girls' education.
• Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana – savings for the girl child.
• Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana – LPG connections for poor women, reducing indoor smoke.
• PM Matru Vandana Yojana – cash support for pregnant and lactating mothers.
• Mission Shakti (2021) – umbrella for safety (One Stop Centres, the 181 helpline) and empowerment (Sambal and Samarthya components).
• DAY-NRLM – about 10 crore women organised into self-help groups (SHGs); the Lakhpati Didi target of 3 crore women earning at least ₹1 lakh a year; Namo Drone Didi for agricultural drones.
• Stand-Up India and Mudra loans, where women hold a majority of accounts.

Women's organisations and movements

Women's organisations have been central to reform:

• Early bodies: the Bharat Stree Mahamandal (1910, Sarala Devi Chaudhurani), the Women's Indian Association (1917, Annie Besant, Margaret Cousins) and the All India Women's Conference (AIWC, 1927), which campaigned for education, the Sarda Act and voting rights.
• Post-1970s autonomous movement: the Towards Equality report (1974) revealed the poor status of women and sparked a new wave; campaigns against dowry and custodial rape (the Mathura case, 1972–79) led to legal changes; the Chipko movement had women at its heart; SEWA (Self Employed Women's Association, founded by Ela Bhatt in 1972) organised informal women workers.
• Grassroots movements: the anti-arrack movement of Andhra Pradesh (1990s), Gulabi Gang in Bundelkhand, and Kudumbashree in Kerala (1998), one of the world's largest women's networks.
• Statutory bodies: the National Commission for Women (1992) and state commissions review laws and hear complaints.
• Digital era: online campaigns such as #MeToo (2018) brought workplace harassment into public debate.

The way forward

Experts stress moving from "women's development" to "women-led development", a theme of India's G20 presidency in 2023. Priorities include safe transport and workplaces, child-care facilities to raise women's employment, equal property rights in practice, digital and financial inclusion, gender budgeting (India has had a Gender Budget Statement since 2005–06), and changing attitudes among men and boys through education and media.

Mains practice question

Discuss the role of women's organisations in bringing about social change in India. What challenges remain in achieving gender equality? (250 words)

Answer framework

• Intro: women's share, constitutional vision.
• Organisations: AIWC (1927), Towards Equality (1974), SEWA, Chipko, anti-arrack, Kudumbashree, NCW, #MeToo.
• Outcomes: laws (POSH, DV Act), schemes, political reservation.
• Challenges: FLFPR quality, violence, sex ratio, care work, representation.
• Conclusion: women-led development.