WOMAN'S VITAL ROLE IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT
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WOMAN'S VITAL ROLE
IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT - extracted text
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I
r
I
WOMAN'S VITAL ROLE
in rural development
I
S.C. Varma
AKNOWLEDGEMEIMT
Today, women in India are recognised as an underprivileged group
in society. Even more so women living in rural areas, who constitute
a large percentage of the female population of India. The majority of
women in rural areas live in abject poverty, without any opportunity
for improving their living conditions. Constitutional rights and guaran
tees have no meaning for them when they cannot even feed and clothe
their children properly, nor provide them with an opportunity to cross
the threshold of school. An attempt has been made in this book to
highlight the problems of such women, and the approach and strategy
required to tackle their problems with a view to achieving the objective
of their development.
I am grateful to UNICEF, India, for taking keen interest in the pre
paration and printing of this book. Their association in publishing this
book clearly shows the genuine interest of UNICEF in the promotion
of an awareness about the need to develop rural women. I am also
thankful to my colleagues who have helped in the preparation of this
book-
(S.C. VARMA)
Secretary to the Government of India
an inadequate appreciation of’their actual
role and participation in the development
process.
' The last decade did, however, witness
an improvement in the situation, when a
little more attention was focused on the
problems of women. The report of the
committee on the status of women in India
releasedin 1975, which coincided with the
International Women's Year (IWY), threw
much light on the position of women.
The report was examined by a group of
social scientists and a number of
important issues were identified for
consideration by the organizations
concerned. A national plan of action
was also prepared in pursuance of the
recommendations of the World Conference
held in Mexico for the International
Women's Year. Employment, health and
education were identified as major areas
of concern, warranting concerted action
on the part of the national government
in improving the status of women. As a
follow up of these recommendations, a
number of working groups were set up
INTRODUCTION
by the Planning Commission and various
Ministries of the Government of India to
suggest sectoral plans and action to
The disadvantages experienced by
ensure women's participation in the
women in rural areas, and their handicaps
in becoming equal partners in development, process of development.
have emerged as critical issues in all
These developments are a good sign of
countries of the world today. This assumes the increasing awareness of the problerps
greater significance in the developing
of women and their status in society, but
countries, including India, where a vast
we are still far from a true and full
majority of women are in the rural areas
recognition of the vital role that women
and are employed in agriculture, the
in rural areas have to play in the economic
primary sector of the economy. But their
and social progress of our country. The
contribution as members of the’labour
following observation of the National
force is considered less productive. They
Commission on Agriculture is significant:
are paid low wages on the grounds that
"It is not true that the issues relating
they are less efficient than men and that
to rural women have been totally
their attendance at work is irregular. This
ignored. But a sense of half
is attributed to their child-rearing and
heartedness and lack of interest are
household responsibilities.
noticeable in the execution of most
Rural development programmes
of the programmes meant for them."
launched in India during the post
independent era have not taken enough
An attempt has been made in this book
notice of this fact and women have by
to make a critical appraisal of-programmes
and large remained on the periphery of
for women in rural areas and to suggest
developmental efforts. Whatever little
certain approaches to the task of involving
has been attempted in the past in the
rural women in the dynamics of
name of women's programmes reflects
development.
>
5
The basic approach of the community
development programme was to stimulate
and seek the participation of people for
the development of the area in which they
lived. The first five year plan document
stated that the basis of economic
development depends on a variety of
factors which constitute the psychological
and sociological setting within which the
economy operates. Further, the plan was
based on the assumption that co-existence
of unutilised or under-utilised man-power
on the one hand, and of unexploited
natural resources on the other is due to
certain inhibiting socio-economic factors
which prevented the more dynamic forces
in the economy from asserting themselves.
Social change was thus desired for the
success of the plan and public
co-operation was sought as its main
instrument. The major objective of the
community development programme was
to develop self-reliance in the individual
and initiative in the community towards
achieving general welfare, including
appreciable increase in agricultural
production. The national extension service
was envisaged as the main agency for
bringing about the desired economic
and social change. All the villages in
the country were brought under the
programme by 1973-74.
RURAL
DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAMMES
India is a country of villages,
where 80% of the population live in the
countryside and nearly 74% are dependent
on agriculture for their livelihood.
Agriculture forms the main base of the
country's economy and is the major
source of rural employment.
In 1957 the community development
programme was studied to assess the
extent to which the programme had been
successful in utilising local initiative and
credit institutions to ensure continuity in
the process of improving economic and
social conditions in the rural areas. The
study team3 appointed for the purpose
suggested two broad directions—
administrative decentralisation for
effective implementation of the
development programmes and democratic
decentralisation under the elected bodies.
As a result of these recommendations,
panchayati raj institutions emerged in
some parts of the country during the
second plan period. These, to an extent,
ensured people's participation in the
development process. In view of the
serious food shortage which prevailed
at that time, special programmes known
The first five year plan (1 951 -56)
rightly placed emphasis on increasing
food production in order to meet the
demands created by partition in 1947.
The Grow More Food Campaign,
introduced in 1944, worked on a planned
basis, from 1947-48, to increase the food
output. But in 1952 it was observed by
an Expert Committee1 that the Grow More
Food Campaign could not succeed because
it ignored the aspect of people's
participation. This observation led to the
launching of the community development
programme in October 1952. The
programme had a multi-dimensional
approach and aimed at a process of
socio-economic transformation of village
life and mobilisation of both community
and governmental resources for rural
development.'1
7
as intensive agricultural district programme
(IADP) and intensive agricultural area
programme (IAAP) were launched during
the closing years of the second five year
plan. The intensive approach acquired a
new dimension with the introduction of
high-yielding varieties of seeds. The
'high-yielding variety programme' was
launched in 1966-67. It was also realised
at that time that the availability of inputs
alone was not enough to ensure increased
agricultural production. The most essential
requirement was the development of
human resources. A programme for
transferring new technology was therefore
introduced almost simultaneously and 100
farmers' training centres were established
in selected districts. The number was later
increased to 115. The farmers' training
programme had three components—
training farmers in improved agricultural
technology through institutional as well
as peripatetic training camps, functional
literacy and media support through
All India Radio.
During the fourth and fifth plan periods,
the overall strategy for rural development
consisted of special programmes for
under-privileged target groups and
backward areas. The important
programmes taken up were small and
3
marginal farmers and agricultural labourers
development agency programmes (SFDA/
MFAL), drought prone areas programme
(DPAP), command area development
programme (CDAP), pilot projects for
hill and tribal areas, animal husbandry
programmes for small farmers, integrated
tribal development programme (ITDP),
desert development programme (DDP)
and sub-plans for hill areas. The special
rural development programmes can be
grouped into two categories, namely the
beneficiary-oriented programmes and area
development programmes. Consistent with
the national policy to increase employment
opportunities and income levels of
families below the poverty line, the
integrated rural development programme
(IRDP) was launched during the year
1978-79. The intention was that, in all
the blocks in the country implementing
any one of the special programmes, IRDP
would replace them in a phased manner.
IRDP represents a synthesis of the best
features of the beneficiary-oriented
special programmes. It has been extended
to cover rural artisans and non-agricultural
labourers, who could not be assisted
under earlier programmes of SFDA/MFAL.
IRDP now covers all the blocks in the
country.
Meanwhile, in 1977-78 another
important programme known as the Food
for Work Programme (FWP) was launched.
Under this programme the Government of
India supplied free food-grains to the
States and Union Territories, to be used
as wages for labourers engaged in the
construction of durable community assets.
FWP has now been replaced by the national
rural employment programme (NREP)
which, while retaining the good features
of FWP, provides for a material component
to ensure the durability of the assets
created.
The basic objectives of rural
development programmes in India can
be summed up as improvement of the
quality of life of the rural population in
general and achievement of social and
economic justice for all. These are being
attained through increased agricultural
production and diversification of the
9
rural economy, promoting people's
participation and co-operation in rural
development activities, both to stimulate
growth with self-reliance and to
strengthen the democratic base. *
The major steps taken during the plan
periods have been to promote the credit
and inputs supply system, to modernise
agriculture, to develop the infrastructure
for delivering essential services and
supplies to the rural community and
specific programmes of diversification and
generation of employment opportunities
through dairying, animal husbandry,
fisheries, rural handicrafts, etc.
re-adjustment of human relations leading
to social harmony". Provision of social
services to women was visualised so that
they might be helped to fulfil their
legitimate role in the family and in the
community. Women social education
organisers (mukhya sevikas) were
appointed to provide social education
to women and to promote community
participation. The Central Social Welfare
Board also started welfare extension
projects from 1954-55. which covered
activities like social education, maternity
and child care, utilisation of leisure time
and recreation programmes. Before that.
women workers of the Kasturba Gandhi
Memorial Trust started activities amongst
women.
Women's programmes forming part of
the community development programme
recognised that the home is the basic
unit of the community. This was based on
the conviction that woman, in her role as
home-maker, could save and supplement
the family resources through proper
management and preservation and could
profit by utilising her leisure time for
some creative activities. She could decide
the course of community participation in
development efforts by building up a
strong and healthy family. With this in
mind, women village-level workers were
trained in home science, which included
family resource management, mother and
child care and extension and proper
utilisation of leisure time. Training was
organised in the home science wings set
up in the gram sevak training centres all
over the country.
WOMEN'S PROGRAMMES
AS PART OF RURAL
DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS
In 1954-55 it was observed that
women's lack of participation in the
community development programme was
to a considerable extent responsible for
the programme not making the necessary
impact. !> Hence women, for the first time,
were included in the programme's target
group.
As a result of this observation it was
recommended that two women village
level workers (gram sevikas) should be
appointed in each community development
block. The first plan document stated that
"the objective of social welfare is the
attainment of social health which implies
the realisation of such objectives as
adequate living standards, the assurance
of social justice, opportunities for cultural
development through self-expression and
In keeping with the approach of the
community development programme,
i.e. ensuring people's participation in
community development activities,
co-operation of women was sought to be
realised through institutions like mahila
mandals. In the blocks, gram sevikas and
mukhya sevikas made house to house
visits and tried to bring about changes in
the life style of the families by talking and
demonstra'ing to women how to take care
of their health and that of their children,
how to improve environmental sanitation,
how to raise kitchen gardens, etc. They
11
showed them how they could utilise their
leisure time more profitably by producing
household utility articles and encouraged
them to take up activities which would
save the family resources and supplement
the food intake of the family.
Simultaneously, efforts were made to
organise women into groups so that they
could solve their problems and meet their
needs through co-operative and group
action. These groups, known as mahila
mandals, were developed as forums for
women’s activities in community
development areas. Mahila mandals were
to promote women's programmes such as
training in group activities, home
management, adult literacy, cultural
and recreational activities, with the main
objective of assisting village women to
develop and understand their role and
responsibilities as individuals, as members
of a family and as members of the
community. To attract women to these
forums, activities like bhajans and hari
kathas were also organised. Occasionally,
religious places were used for holding
meetings to encourage women to
participate in the activities.
mandals in non-ANP blocks continued
with their other activities for rural women.
During the fourth plan period a
composite programme for women and
pre-school children was started with the
components of demonstration feeding
and training of associate women workers.
Demonstration feeding was to be
conducted by the mahila mandals for
pre-school children. The training of
associate women workers, i.e. potential
women leaders of the village, who were
in many cases the office bearers of mahila
mandals, was designed to develop their
skills and competence to mobilise rural
women and assist the gram sevikas and
mukhya sevikas in carrying out their tasks.
The scheme was also meant to prepare
the non-ANP blocks for absorption of
ANP at a later date.
During the fifth plan period,
demonstration feeding was discontinued
and a scheme of incentive awards to
mahila mandals was introduced. Under
the scheme, an award of Rs. 1000 was
given to the mahila mandal adjudged
the best, Rs. 600 to the second best and
Rs. 400 to the third best in each State.
A new central sector scheme to promote
and strengthen mahila mandals was
introduced during the same plan period.
Under this scheme mahila mandals were
registered under the Societies Registration
Act and were made eligible for
administrative grants. Assistance was
however limited to a very small number
of them. It is estimated that there are
nearly 60,000 mahila mandals in the
country, of which only some are registered
bodies and the rest continue to function
as informal groups.
During the third plan period a
programme of applied nutrition (ANP)
was introduced with assistance from
UNICEF. The major thrust of this
programme was the promotion of
nutrition education to improve the
nutritional level of rural families. This
was planned to be achieved through
production of protective food, training
producers of such food, extension
workers, village leaders, members
of village youth clubs and mahila
mandals, who could be engaged in the
implementation of the programme at
different levels, and demonstration
feeding of the vulnerable groups, i.e.
expectant and nursing mothers and
pre-school children. The programme
relied, to a large extent, on the support
of mahila mandals. Mahila mandals have
been involved by and large both in
production and feeding programmes.
Out of 5,011 blocks in the country,
nearly 1700 blocks were covered under
ANP by the end of the fifth plan. Mahila
The introduction of panchayati raj has
added another dimension to the role of
women in rural areas. The State panchayat
acts have, in many cases, provided for
the reservation of seats for women in
panchayats from the village to the zila
parishad levels. The committee on
panchayati raj institutions (1978) noted
the value of women's contribution in this
field and the need for their development.
It suggested greater representation of
12
concentration have been to improve the
status of women in rural areas as home
maker, to promote nutrition education, to
develop local leadership and to promote
women's participation in the development
of women and children through the
organization of mahila mandals.
women in panchayati raj bodies, and
their participation in the electoral process,
which would influence both the
directional ahd implementation levels.
Such representation would also ensure
better attention from panchayats to
various aspects of the development
of women in rural areas.
There are some other programmes for
women and children which are being
implemented in rural areas by the
Women's programmes have so far
formed only a very small segment of
rural development efforts in India. Started
and carried out on a very small scale, the
focus of the programme has varied at
different stages. Broadly, the areas of
13
Ministries of Social Welfare and Health.
The Ministry of Social Welfare is
implementing a programme of integrated
child development services in 200
development blocks. The scheme was
initiated during the fifth plan period with
the objective of delivering the services of
nutrition, health, immunisation, pre-school
education and non-formal education to
the vulnerable target population in
selected blocks. Each project is placed
under a child development project
officer appointed by the Social Welfare
Department of the State Government.
The health inputs of the programme are
supplied through the infrastructure of the
Health Department from State to district
to block level. At the block level, the
medical officer of the primary health
centre is responsible for the supply of
health inputs. The king-pin of the pre
school education and functional literacy
programmes for mothers has been a cadre
known as angan wadi workers. Originally
this cadre was to be composed of girls in
the local areas but this has not been
possible in many cases. Mostly schooleducated girls from nearby towns have
come forward to take up this job. The
advantage in recruiting anganwadi
workers from local areas is that they can
easily identify themselves with the local
people, which is not as easy for workers
from outside. However, the programme
is closely monitored and evaluated and
some of the earlier shortcomings are
gradually being removed. But such
services are available only in limited
areas and the backward areas are still
outside the reach of the programme.
In the sphere of health and family
welfare, some innovative programmes
are being tried out, such as schemes of
community health workers, multi-purpose
workers, training of local dais, etc. The
idea of community health workers (now
community health volunteers) is to train
workers selected from the community
itself and to equip them properly so that
they can render primary health services
to the rural people and provide referral
services.
The scheme of multi-purpose workers
reflects a new direction in the para
medical training programme. These
workers are trained in the multi-purpose
approach so that they can be more
effective in the delivery of services.
In both cases, efforts have been made
to recruit as many women workers as
possible to facilitate reach to the target
population. The ratio between male and
female workers varies from 60 : 40 to
80 : 20. 0
In rural areas, local midwives usually
attend to delivery cases. The training of
these midwives is of paramount
importance in reducing infant and
maternal mortality, which occurs mainly
due to ignorance and crude handling.
Since the coverage of primary health
centres is very limited, there is a need
for qualitative improvement and
optimisation of the services of local
midwives. Women in rural areas will
have to depend on their services for many
years to come, until maternal and child
care services are available through more
organised and improved health services.
Though a number of schemes are being
implemented to improve health and
maternal child care services in rural areas,
the services now available are far short
of requirements.
15
were ignored. At least these ideas were
not incorporated in the plans for increasing
food production. When the emphasis of
the programmes shifted to agriculture, the
multi purpose village-level worker (gram
sevak) became virtually uni-purpose to
give more attention to agriculture. While
the number of gram sevaks was increased
in the areas of intensive agricultural
development, the number of gram sevikas
per block was reduced from two to one
and in some States the programme was
completely wound up, retaining the
services of the gram sevikas only for
ANP blocks.
It should be mentioned here that in
recognition of the fact that women play
a decision-making role in families, that
they determine their consumption pattern
and are largely responsible for the
improvement of their nutritional status,
the scheme of farmers' training and
education implemented in 1965-66 did
include a component for the training of
farm women. The training programme
included recipes based on cereals and
millets grown with the newly released
varieties to promote consumer acceptance,
information about the high-yielding
variety programme, its importance in terms
of the economy and nutrition, etc. Later
on training was also imparted in storage
of foodgrains at home, in view of the role
played by women in the storage and
preservation of grains.
LIMITATIONS OF THE
EXISTING PROGRAMMES
Programmes for women in rural areas
initiated during 1954-55 and conceived
as an integral part of the community
development programme did not grow
during the subsequent plan period either
in dimension or in coverage. It stagnated
with the shift in emphasis of the
community development programme
towards agriculture. The most serious
drawback to this strategy was the lack
of appreciation of the role of rural woman.
Her status in the programme was only that
of a beneficiary and not of a participant.
Little attention was paid to her as an
economic being, which she very much is,
especially in a rural family. That a rural
woman, besides being a home-maker, is
also a partner in food production efforts
and that in poor rural families, the woman
has to play an economic role as well, as
her earnings are essential even for
maintaining the subsistence level of living,
But the training programme seems to
have treated women as only consumers
and preservers of resources. Training in
improvement of technology for
agricultural production was by and large
confined to men. In spite of this a large
number of women participated in the
training programme wherever efforts were
made. This is indicative of the fact that
women are interested in the training
programmes and are keen to improve
their knowledge and understanding.
ANP, which had considerable potential,
did not make the desired degree of impact.
Evaluation studies of the programme
disclosed certain inadequacies which
accounted for the programme not making
any substantial impact. It evoked very
17
little people's participation, which was
meant to be the main base of the
programme. The linkages between the
various components of the programme —
production of protective food, training
and demonstration feeding for vulnerable
groups —could not be properly established.
Nutrition education, the major objective
of the programme, did not take concrete
shape. Demonstration feeding in most
cases became a routine activity and
figured mostly as charity feeding. The
programme also suffered from lack of
staff, supervision, technical guidance and
concurrent monitoring and evaluation.
Insufficient policy support and provision
of adequate inputs was also noticed.
Another major gap identified in the
programme was the lack of an economic
component; it did not provide for any
income-generating activities through
mahila mandals, which might have been
an incentive for women to participate.
programmes, infrastructural facilities,
personnel, resources and linkages with
local representative bodies. It was also
observed that poor people would have
been attracted only to such occupations
which were remunerative in the long run
and they had no interest in activities like
knitting, tailoring, etc., which hardly had
any economic prospects. : The Balwant
Rai Mehta Study Team (1957) also
suggested that the rural women's
programme should focus on economic
and child care activities.
The programme for women included in
the community development programme
also suffered from some in-built short
comings. For example, it was based on
the assumption that women in rural areas
form a homogenous group, which is not
quite correct. Their traditional roles are
not identical in all stratas of society.
The role of women in the upper strata of
the community is usually confined to the
home, whereas women in the lower strata
have more physical mobility and play a
direct role along with men in the economic
activities of the families such as
agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries,
forestry, processing and marketing of
agricultural and forest products, etc. As
a result, the rural women's programme,
which dealt mainly with home science,
did not have much appeal for women of
the weaker sections of the community.
Nor did the activities of the mahila
mandals, which were organised in the
sphere of literacy, health and hygiene,
removal of social disabilities, beautifying
homes and cultural and recreational
activities in different areas. Various
evaluation studies highlighted the
non-representative character of these
organizations, and the lack of definite
18
The lack of understanding and
inadequate appreciation of the programme
was apparent from the way the programme
was operated in some of the States. The
infrastructure provided for the programme
was insufficient. Two gram sevikas and
one mukhya sevika per block, with their
limited mobility, could hardly be expected
to cover half the adult population of a
block. A development block usually
covers 100 villages with a population of
approximately 1,00,000. The arrangement
to assign them to a limited area to work
for a fixed period and then to move to
another area after adequate local initiative
and leadership had been generated did not
work either for obvious reasons. The
minimum educational qualification for
gram sevikas, earlier prescribed as
matriculation or equivalent, was relaxed
to middle standard to get recruitment
mainly from among rural girls. The type
of leadership and imagination required
for this programme could not be expected
from such functionaries. Also, they could
not work successfully without constant
supervision and guidance and without a
system of constant flow of information
and feed-back. In most cases there was
no single-line hierachical structure for
providing necessary direction, guidance
and supervision to the programme, and
there was no uniformity in the
administrative structure. Administration
of the functionaries was in general vested
in more than one department, e.g. gram
sevikas came under the rural develooment
department and lady social education
organisers or mukhya sevikas under the
education department, creating a lot of
administrative and management problems.
In some States uncertainty prevailed for
quite some time about the location of the
programme. With the changed emphasis
of community development on agriculture,
and in the absence of any role being
perceived for gram sevikas in agriculture
and rural development, the State
agriculture and rural development
departments, in most cases, were not
considered the legitimate place for these
functionaries. The need for an appropriate
parent department was therefore felt and
the department of social welfare/women's
welfare was considered the right location
for the women's programme. Therefore in
many States the programme was
transferred to these departments and
thus got further isolated from the
mainstream of rural development.
The experiment of involving primary
school teachers in extension services for
women and children, tried out in the State
of Rajasthan, did not prove successful
either. The posts of gram sevikas and
mukhya sevikas were abolished by the
State Government in the late fifties,
almost immediately after the inception
of the programme, and the extension
services for rural women were entrusted
to rural lady primary school teachers.
This was done to solve the problem of
accommodation for functionaries in rural
areas, their lack of mobility and, being
outsiders, their low acceptance by the
local community. It was felt that teachers,
who had a respected position in the
community and were well accepted,
would be in a better position to deliver
the goods, if they had the time and the
resources. But this experiment did not
seem to make much impact. The schools
may have participated in specific activities
successfully, like organization of literacy
and family welfare camps, health
campaigns, immunisation programmes,
school feeding, etc., but school teachers
could not do full justice to extension
services during the few hours that they
could spare from their school duties.
Moreover there was the problem of
cooidinating the work, when the resources
for the programme and its administration
were vested in a department other than
the education department, to which the
teachers belonged.
Thus, the programme for rural women
did not take deeper root in the rural
development strategy. The original
concept of the programme as part of
community development efforts was also
modified mid-way without adequate time
being given to judge the validity of the
concept and the potentialities of the
programme. Allocation for the programme
in the State sector was too meagre to
generate any meaningful activities. The
programme became synonymous with
the organisation of mahila mandals and
nutrition activities, did not become central
to the development process and remained
only peripheral.
19
were 963 and 845 and in 1901, 979 and
910 respectively. All India figures,
according to the 1981 census provisional
data, is 935 females to 1000 males. It
indicates a slight improvement but the
imbalance still exists. (Comparable data
for rural and urban areas in 1981 are not
yet available). Table 1 shows the State
wise position. It can be seen that the
States of Bihar, Kerala, Manipur,
Meghalaya and Maharashtra have
registered a higher ratio of female to
male, but the figures show a declining
trend except in Bihar and Meghalaya.
In Meghalaya, it can be explained by the
higher status given to women in general.
In Bihar as well as in other States it can
perhaps be attributed to male migration
from the rural areas. In Haryana, Punjab
and Jammu and Kashmir, the ratio of
female to male is very low, particularly
in Punjab and Haryana. The all India trend
for this declining sex ratio is attributed to
poor environmental conditions, inadequate
services for maternal care, preference for
the male child and discrimination against
the female child, repeated pregnancies
and malnutrition, resulting in high
maternal mortality, poverty and an
excessive work load for women. These
characteristics are obviously more
predominant in the lower socio-economic
strata. No doubt, due to improved health
services, life expectancy for both males
and females has improved, but the gap
between male and female death rates
below the age of 40 has been increasing
for all groups (Table II).
A SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS
The whole question of women's
development and their integration in
the development process requires careful
scrutiny. A situational analysis of their
role and status, on the basis of the
statistical profile, will help in identifying
the critical gaps in the programme and
suggesting the required strategy for the
future.
Death rates amongst women have
increased from 37.61 % in 1971 to 47.1 %
in 1 977. The major causes 8 for high
maternal deaths are given below :
Bleeding
20.6%
Anaemia
15.9%
Puerperal Sepsis
18.8%
Abortion
8-2%
Toxaemia
11-2%
Mal-position
9.4%
Unclassified
15.9%
The status of women, neglect of their
health and nutritional needs, inadequate
provision of health care services, high
parity, poor environment and lack of
Rural women constitute 80.92% of the
female population and 38.99% of the total
population. The most significant aspect of
the population trend in the country as
indicated by social scientists and
demographers is the imbalance in the
sex ratio.
According to the 1971 census the all
India sex ratio is 930 females to 1000
males. In the rural areas the ratio is 949
to 1000 and in the urban areas it is 859
to 1000. Corresponding figures in 1961
21
knowledge about pre-natal and post
natal care explain the imbalance in the
sex ratio between men and women.
There are also some social norms which
contribute to this demographic trend, such
as early marriage for girls, value attached
to the male child, lack of education and
health care services and the death rate
in general amongst the female population
in the age group of 0-4 (Table II), which
is higher than that of male children. This
confirms the belief that the female child
gets less attention than the male child,
which is also substantiated by the fact
that the death rate among women is
higher in spite of the biological fact that
the female life-span is higher than that
of the male.
Child marriage has been identified
as another social evil responsible for the
slow progress of women. The problem is
largely confined to rural India and it is
particularly high in the states of Bihar,
Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and
U.P. It is low in the north-eastern States,
and in the rest of the States the age of
marriage nearly corresponds to the
national average, which was 15.69 in
1961 and 16.67 in 1971 (Table III). The
situation is closely interlinked with the
level of education and social attitudes.
Rural society frowns upon the practice
of older girls going to school, particularly
to co-educational institutions. Parents
also consider it a waste to spend on the
education and maintenance of girls for
long since they have to spend on their
marriage and dowry.
the recommendations made in the report
of the committee on the status of women
in India, raising the marriageable age
from 15 to 18. A declining trend is also
noticeaole in girls being married at below
15 years in rural areas. From 9% in 1961
it came down to 6% in 1971.
Census figures give a dismal picture
regarding the literacy rate amongst
women. Though the percentage of
literate women has almost trebled during
the three decades between 1951-81, from
8.01% in 1951 to 18.69% in 1971 and
25% in 1981, there has been an increase
in illiteracy in absolute number from
158.70 million females in 1951 to 214.74
million in 1971. 10 The high incidence
of illiteracy is confined to the rural areas.
In 1971, out of the 264 million female
population, 214 million were in rural
areas. Among the 50 million urban
females, 41.9% are literate, whereas in
rural areas only 12.9% are literate. The
corresponding figures amongst men are
69.83% in urban areas and 39.55% in
rural areas (comparable figures for 1981
are not yet available). This indicates less
opportunities for girls to be educated
both in rural and urban areas. Table IV
gives the percentage of children attending
Child marriage in India is also dictated
by economic considerations. Girls in the
rural areas have to work from an early age
and the community often prescribes that
only married girls should be permitted
to work outside the home. 11 Thus the
practice has its roots in economic and
social problems. Efforts were made to
check this evil and, as a result, the Child
Marriage Registration Act was passed in
1 921. Over the years there has been a
gradual rise in the legal marriageable
age of girls from 1 2 to 1 8 as a result of
legislative measures. One of these was
an Act passed in 1975, as a follow up of
22
perceptible decline in the employment
status of women between 1961-1971
in other spheres also (Table VI).
school by single year, age and sex during
1978, for rural and urban areas separately.
The literacy rate among rural women
in Kerala is as high as 52.63%. It is lowest
in the States of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh,
Rajasthan, U.P., J&K and Haryana, where
the literacy rate ranges between 3 to 10%
(Table V). According to the 1971 census,
the female literacy rate among the
scheduled castes and scheduled tribes
was 5.06% and 4.36% respectively.
Illiteracy is most widespread among
the poorer sections of rural women and
scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
The functional literacy programmes
introduced during the fifth five year plan
has not been quite successful in reaching
these women. Statistics show that efforts
made under this programme were largely
concentrated in urban areas.
Illiteracy is the greatest handicap for
rural woman in benefitting from the
development process. It has a direct
correlation with the employment status.
It restricts her participation in development
efforts and limits her earning capacity in
the traditional sectors. Being illiterate,
she cannot join the organised sector and
is also not in a position to bargain for
fair wages in the unorganised sector. It
limits her capacity to absorb technological
information to improve her skills and
efficiency and in the process she gets
trapped in the vicious circle of inefficient
labour low productivity, low wages,
inadequate food and low level of nutrition.
Recent data also indicate that the infant
mortality rate among children of illiterate
rural mothers is more than double (132)
than in the case of mothers who have had
education above primary level (64). 11
The work participation rate of men and
women in rural areas has declined. In the
age group 5-1 4 it fell from 1 6.61 % in
1 961 to 11.41 % in 1 971 in males, and
in females it fell from 12.29% to 4.61 %.
In the case of boys it is regarded as an
indication of the improvement in school
enrolment at primary and secondary
stages. But the decline in the case of girls
cannot be explained in the same way.
The total work force participation in
rural areas was estimated to be 228 million
in 1977-78, i.e. 46% of the total rural
population, of which 83 million are
women, constituting 36% of the total
labour force. But this does not give a real
Rural women used to play a vital role
in the country's economy but with the
decline of rural industries their
employment status received a set-back,
resulting in adverse consequences on their
social status. It is also feared that women
are gradually being dislodged from
their original employment status in the
field of agriculture due to the process of
modernisation, which has tended to
neglect women. There has been a
23
picture of the work participation rate for
women. The labour force participation
data for women does not include the
majority of rural women who spend a
considerable amount of time and labour
in the collection of fuel, fodder, fish,
vegetables, etc., which are either for
direct consumption by the family or are
sold to meet the family’s other needs.
It also ignores women who help in family
occupations like dairying, poultry-rearing,
raising and maintenance of kitchen
gardens, orchards, sewing, weaving,
etc. This contribution is very crucial,
particularly subsistence-level occupations.
The total number of rural women in the
age group 1 5-59 engaged in only domestic
work was estimated at 43.8 million, and
those engaged in domestic duties as well
as in free collection of goods and services
was estimated at 26.6 million during
1977-78. '- In a recent study it was
found that the average hours of unpaid
work done by married women outside the
home varied from 6.13 to 7.53 hours per
day. a small percentage reported that they
were working more that 10 hours per day
on an average. 13 Another study showed
that apart from domestic chores, women
engaged in agricultural operations worked
for an average of about 12 hours on the
farm and in taking care of the cattle at
home. 14
24
As paid workers women are engaged
in agriculture in large numbers. According
to the 1971 census, 36.43% of women
workers, other than scheduled castes and
scheduled tribes, are cultivators. 48.37%
are engaged as agricultural labourers,
2.28% are in animal husbandry and the
rest are engaged in other services.
Participation of scheduled caste women
in agricultural activities is 90.65%, of
which 14.02% are cultivators. In the
scheduled tribes participation of women
as agricultural labourers is approximately
50%, and 42.98% are cultivators.
Participation of women of scheduled
tribes in manufacturing industries, both
household and non-household, as well as
in other services, is much lower at 3%,
whereas in the case of scheduled caste
women, it is nearly 7%, and in the case
of women other than scheduled castes and
scheduled tribes the percentage is a little
over 10%. A correlation may be
established between the employment
status of women and their literacy level.
The literacy rate of women other than
scheduled castes and scheduled tribes
is 15% and in scheduled castes and
scheduled tribes it is 4.76% and 4.31 %
respectively, with a correspondingly
lower percentage of entry in services
and other occupations (Table VII). The
female participation rate in rural areas also
decreases with the increase in literacy, as
a large number of educated rural women
prefer to seek employment in urban areas.
and using new knowledge for advancement
in their existing occupations, particularly
in the primary sector. A vast majority of
rural women are either cultivators or
agricultural labourers. Unless they are
well informed and capable of taking
advantage of technological applications
in the field of agriculture and animal
husbandry they will be losing the battle
for survival. Due to their ignorance, they
get exposed to the hazards of poisonous
chemicals used as fertilizers, pesticides,
etc. For these women literacy and nonformal education are essential to enable
them to take advantage of technological
changes and modernisation in their
existing occupations.
Correlation between literacy and
employment outside the primary sector
is also evident from the literacy rate and
service occupation in some States. In U.P.,
where the literacy rate for rural women is
7%, service occupations engage only
2.2% of rural women. Corresponding
rates in Bihar are 6.4% and 1.4%, in
Madhya Pradesh 6.1 % and 2.4% and
in Kerala 53.1 % and 1 8.0%. Nearly 95%
of women workers in the agricultural
sector and 84% in household industries
are illiterate and a very small percentage
in this group (hardly 2%) has'crossed
the middle school level. This, besides
limiting the scope of employment for
women, is a great handicap in acquiring
25
perceive women in a broader perspective,
keeping in view the multifarious roles
she has to perform as bread-earner for
the family and manager of the farm and
household resources.
To take agriculture as an example,
women's contribution in this sector has
been quite significant. They participate
in all agricultural occupations except
ploughing. In animal husbandry and
dairying most of the activities are carried
out by women. If rural women had been
adequately trained in agriculture and
animal husbandry the gains in terms of
their contribution to the developmental
process would have been substantial. '
Not only have women not benefited
from technological advances made in the
wake of the green revolution and dairy
development, their position has in fact
deteriorated with the increased workload
and a restricted role in decision-making.
Excluding women from the efforts aimed
at the transfer of technology not only
results in under-utilisation of potential
manpower but reduces the impact of
technological advancement, as women
still continue to do some of their
traditional activities without the advantage
of new knowledge and new skills. While
man attends to mechanical operations like
driving tractors and running electrical
threshers, woman still applies manure
manually and carries head-loads of cow
dung, fuel and fodder. She works with
old tools in unhygienic and insanitary
conditions, which adversely affect her
efficiency, health and energy and
consequently her child-bearing and
rearing capacities. Even where entire
farming operations have been mechanised,
women continue to cook in a smoky
kitchen and walk miles to fetch water
for the family. In hilly and forest areas,
women's time is spent mostly in collecting
fuel and fodder and in carrying headloads
of them either to the market for sale or to
the home to meet the needs of the family.
A fisher-woman in Kerala walks miles and
spends hours selling fish, to earn a couple
of rupees, neglecting her family.
LESSONS FOR THE FUTURE
The objective of any planned
development is to develop human
resources to their fullest utilisation. From
a statistical analysis of the situation of
rural women, and from the review of the
earlier programme, it is clear that
considerable ground is yet to be covered
in the matter of rural women's programmes.
Their role in and contribution to
production, processing and distribution
of agricultural products, animal husbandry
and household industries have been
largely by-passed in the plans for rural
development. The time has now come to
Not much thought has been given to
improving working conditions for women
27
through the development and application
of appropriate technology and better
child care facilities. The Plan's objective
of growth with justice urgently calls for
measures that will give women access
to better jobs, that will diminish the
arduous tasks that hundreds of millions
of them face in their domestic and
agricultural occupations; and that will
distribute opportunities for creative work
and economic advancement more
fairly between the sexes.1 c This is the
requirement of the majority of women in
India who live in the countryside and who
toil round the clock to earn a livelihood.
among the rural wage-earning population
are vital for the survival of the family.
It is usually spent on food and other other
essentials. The improved employment
status of a mother with a regular income
promotes school enrolment of children,
and women in employment tend to have
smaller families than unemployed women
in the same income group. It is true that
a woman, when she can afford it, likes to
see her child better fed, better clothed and
sent to a school. In many cases children,
particularly girls are deprived of schooling
as they have to look after their younger
brothers and sisters, relieving the mother
to go for work.
A change in the rural economy,
especially the rising cost of living,
declining village industries and changes
in the market structure have led to a
situation where, under economic pressure,
women have to involve themselves in
occupations which require hard labour,
with a proportionately lower income.
This is also evident from the rate of
their participation in the Maharashtra
Government's employment guarantee
scheme and the erstwhile food for work
programme and the current national rural
employment programme of the Government
of India. Women have participated in these
programmes in large numbers despite the
long distances they have to travel to the
places of work and the arduousness
of the jobs offered. According to a recent
evaluation of the employment guarantee
scheme conducted by the Planning
Commission, nearly 43% of the workers
are women.
Most of the problems of poor women
in rural areas emanate from poverty,
which makes them accept any kind of job
and live their lives in drudgery. The most
essential requirement for them is,
therefore, that they must earn and be
involved in the productive process while
taking care of the children and household.
Opportunities for upgrading their existing
skills and acquiring new ones, which
would help them retain their existing jobs
or seek new ones, will go a long way to
improving the status of women as well as
their families. Various studies have also
substantiated that women's incomes
28
In addition to the role a woman has
to play as bread-winner, she also has
to look after the household and children.
The problem in her case is how to adjust
to her multifarious role with greater ease
and competence.
The problems of rural women, such
as employment, education, health,
environment and even laws, are a matter of
inter-sectoral concern. That the problems
are interlinked has to be recognised to
ensure that the benefits of action taken
in these different areas are fully realised.
For example, efforts to improve women's
economic status may be counter-productive
if sufficient attention is not given to
facilitating her domestic tasks by providing
labour-saving devices, child care facilities,
etc. Many health problems like high
maternal and infant mortality, mortality
in children, malnutrition and low life
expectancy are linked with the acute
problems of poverty and poor
environmental conditions. Education
and training, both formal and non-formal,
are other variables that determine women's
involvement in development. Though the
law provides for equal access to education
for both boys and girls, opportunities for
girls to go to school are far less due to
existing family priorities and social norms.
It is, therefore, necessary to examine the
issues involved in the development of
women in all these areas. There are a
number of problems in each area which
need to be understood, along with their
basic causes.
In the following chart an attempt has been made to explain how these are
interlinked and the specific areas requiring action :
development
1
employment
occupation
AREAS
1
1
law
health
_____________________ 1_____
111
I
nonnutrition
personal
environmental
formal
health &
conditions
hygiene
1
education
II
income
formal
BASIC CAUSES
BASIC PROBLEMS
income :
—inadequate income
— no decision-making power
—large families
occupation :
—unemployment
—under-employment
— limited avenues of employment
—exploitation of child labour,
low wage jobs and drudgery
education :
—illiteracy
—low decision-making
— lack of knowledge and skills
—poverty
—lack of facilities for schooling
of girls
—social attitude negative to
educating girls
— lack of child care facilities.
law :
—inadequate legal measures to
ensure and protect the interest
of women in organised sector
—non-implementation of existing
laws
— inadequate legal provision to
ensure women’s title to property
—lack of knowledge awareness
—social attitude, hurdles and
resistance
—lack of skills to demand a fair
deal in the organised sector
health and
nutrition
—high rate of maternal mortality
—high rate of infant mortality
— illness
—repeated pregnancy
—malnutrition
—low working capacity
—lack of awareness
—low purchasing power
—inadequate diet
—social preference for male child.
—lack of access to health services
—inadequacy of services
environment:
—unhealthy environment
—diseases
—inadequate impact of health and
nutrition programmes
—lack of pure drinking water
— lack of proper waste disposal
—inadequate housing conditions
—lack of awareness
29
—poverty
—lack of proper employment
conditions and opportunities
—lack of services
—lack of information/education
Employment has been divided into two
sectors—occupation and income. This
division is necessary to understand why
women wage-earners get lower wages
than men, the lack of opportunities for
suitable jobs, the limited scope of entry
into certain occupations and why certain
occupations are rendered unsuitable for
women.
From an analysis of the whole gamut
of problems, it is clear that most of the
problems are interlinked and casually
related. Take the example of large sized
families. They have an adverse effect on
family food consumption, shelter and
clothing, which results in malnutrition,
ill-health and inadequate education, with
an ultimate effect on production and the
economic level. The rate at which the
population is growing has been a matter
of great concern to planners, economists,
social scientists and demographers. It is
becoming increasingly difficult to contain
the population's growth rate within the
rate of the country's economic growth.
environmental conditions, lack of pure
drinking water and non-immunisation of
children have also been identified as
factors which act against nutrition
intervention programmes. Measures for
improving nutrition in children and
mothers and nutrition feeding are likely
to prove futile unless they have first been
protected against diarrhoea and other
communicable diseases. All these factors,
therefore, have to be part of a package
to improve the nutritional status of the
community.
Planners are very concerned with the
problem and accordingly the national
programme of family planning has been
given priority by the Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare. But the programme
does not appeal enough to the target
group of the poor population, to whom
a child born is an addition to the number
of working hands, in a situation where
they are not sure of their children’s
survival. Motivation to reduce the size of
the family can be brought about only by
making them aware of the implications
of a large family in relation to income,
distribution of food, nutritional status,
maternal health and child mortality. Advice
on nutrition would also be meaningless to
them unless adequate food is made
available to them at prices which they can
afford, or their purchasing power is
increased, or they are shown how to
produce more food.
There are other factors involved in the
problem of nutrition. Cultural beliefs and
taboos interfere with the food consumption
pattern of the community. In many
communities preparation of food also
encourages waste. Poor housing and
30
Women are also handicapped due to
insufficient provisions and the non
implementation of laws ensuring
protection against social and economic
exploitation. Inadequacies are more
apparent in the implementation of many
legislations rather than in the provision
of legal rights. The crux of the problem
is the lack of awareness of basic rights
among women themselves.
The programme for rural women will,
therefore, have to rely more on non-formal
education and functional literacy, which
should aim at creating awareness among
them and imparting necessary knowledge
and information for improving their
income-earning abilities, nutrition, health,
environment, family planning, etc. An
atmosphere has also to be created for
the promotion of formal education for
younger children. Through a formal system
of education the children should, from
their early childhood, be made to
understand their surroundings and should
acquire knowledge about nutrition and
health, environment, population control
and their implications in determining their
life style. Upgrading the level of education
and knowledge and awareness of women
in rural areas is basic to the solution of
their problems.
The programme should, therefore, have
an integrated approach to take care of
women's complex problems and needs.
Table VIII shows the percentage of
children by age, sex and child care when
the rural mother goes out to work. It is
apparent that the onus of child care rests
largely on the mothers. So either the
working mother has to take the child with
her or leave the child with very little care
and security. It is observed that in many
cases where efforts have been made to
expand the opportunities for participation
of women in the labour market, it has
created more stress and strain for them,
with more demand on their time, energy
and labour, resulting in the neglect of
children and the household. This has an
adverse effect on their health and working
status. Therefore provision should be made
for certain basic social inputs like creches
and balwadis. Appropriate technology
for minimising labour in the household
is also necessary for enhancing their
participation in economic activities.
Examples can again be given of women
participants in the Maharashtra employment
guarantee scheme and the national rural
employment programme. Provision of
creches and supply of cooked food at the
work site would considerably help women
in reducing their drudgery and in earning
a full wage.
There are various programmes being
implemented by different Ministries of
the Government of India as well as by
non-governmental agencies in the fields
of nutrition, family planning, health,
appropriate technology, etc., but isolated
•
A
/ V>
/
implementation of these programmes has
been to a large extent responsible for their
inadequate impact. It is necessary to work
out a system for integrated delivery of
various services to women in rural areas.
This can be made possible by having an
adequately trained agency close to the
clientele to help them build up their
awareness and to facilitate the convergence
of the services they need. Earlier, gram
sevikasand mukhya sevikas were expected
to perform this function, but these efforts
also suffered due to reduction in their
strength as well as the absence of a clear
focus on a women's programme. There is
a need to strengthen and revitalise this
machinery to work as a two-way channel
between the people and the source of
inputs and services.
To ensure that development services
reach the target population, it is necessary
to strengthen the receiving end also. It
has been stated earlier that the success of
any programme meant for rural people is
linked to the extent of the people
participating in it. The mahila mandals
have been visualised as a means for
securing women's participation in the
development process. Past experience has
also shown that the nutrition feeding
programme, adult literacy, health care,
child care, pre-school education, family
planning, etc. could be effectively
delivered through mahila mandals.
Most of the constraints experienced by
women in availing of these services could
be overcome through organised groups
and collective action. In a tradition bound
rural society, where people live in
contiguous areas, they look for the
sanction of the community in adopting
any change from tradition, whether it is
regarding food habits, moving out of a
traditional employment to a new one or
sending a grown-up girl to school. It is
difficult for an individual woman to
overcome the social pressure, but it
becomes easier when it is a group
decision. When the group is convinced,
individual acceptance is easier. Moreover.
these organizations can be used as forums
for convergence and delivery of services
meant for women in rural areas.
32
Organizations of rural women registered
under the Societies Registration Act have
succeeded in facilitating members' access
to credit and bank loans to enable them
to start income-generating activities. In
Kerala, rural mahila mandals have proved
their capacity for undertaking not only to
implement but to monitor programmes
for rural women and children through
their active involvement in a structured
programme known as the 'composite
programme for rural women and children'
That mahila mandals can be entrusted
with this responsibility has been shown
in other States as well. Activities like
organization of balwadis, feeding of
vulnerable groups, arrangement for the
supply of inputs, credit etc. for the
identified beneficiaries are organised by
mahila mandals, besides participation in
income-generating activities either as
individuals or as a group. Even the family
planning programme is reported to have
been well received where mahila mandals
were motivated and became interested in
the programme.
The response to literacy efforts has also
been higher where the local organization
has taken the interest and initiative.
Experience shows that these organizations
have proved more effective in the delivery
of services when they had a community
centre to be used freely by members for
their activities. Absence of a community
centre or a common meeting place has
been identified as a major constraint for
rural women's organizations not being
active in many cases.
unions to strengthen their bargaining
power.
A working group, appointed by the
erstwhile rural development department of
the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation
(1 976), to examine programmes for women
in rural areas and to suggest a new
strategy, brought out the need to
strengthen the grass root level organization
as a measure to develop the programme
and to set it on a strong footing. The
working group suggested promotion of
such an organization, with the following
objectives:
—to draw rural women into the main
stream of development;
—to function as instruments of social
change by enabling them to undertake
programmes in which they will have
a stake or a sustained interest, such as
improving their income, productivity
or employment;
—to promote self-reliance and collective
action;
—to provide forums to enable women,
especially from the poorer/weaker
sections, to participate freely and fully
in decisions that affect their lives and
that of the community; and
—to enable women to have full access
to development of resources and
services.
The working group also felt that one
type of organization might not be suitable
for all categories of rural women, nor in
all situations. Different types of
organizations should be promoted,
keeping in view the role and needs of
rural women. In some cases these could
be promoted as co-operatives and in
others they could be formed as labour
33
The desired change in the situation of
women cannot be expected unless they
can participate effectively in decisions
which concern their development. They
should be represented in decision-making
bodies. Representation of only two women
members in panchayats, often as co-opted
members, does not enable them to be
effective in the decision-making bodies.
They are not in a position to express their
independent views. Participation in mahila
mandals may pave the way for members
to be effective in panchayats. Mahila
mandals can serve as a base for women
to learn about democratic procedures and
decision-making processes, and help them
in developing confidence in their strength
and abilities.
The committee on panchayati raj
institutions (1978) in recognition of
the fact that women contribute largely
to the country's economic development,
has recommended a larger role for women
in panchayats and their enhanced
participation in decisions concerning
the welfare of women and children.
It has also suggested that the new
programme for women should recognise
and strengthen their constructive decision
making and managerial roles, so as to
enable them to have full access to the
development of resources and services.
One of the lessons learnt from past
experience is that the mahila mandals did
not have the right kind of leadership and
direction and that the institution became
an end in itself. They should be organised
with the clear-cut objective of using them
for development purposes both for their
members as well as for the community,
and to function as links between the
service agencies and the beneficiaries.
For this, proper direction, resources and
infrastructural support should be provided.
These organizations need to be developed
as a buttress for the development process.
If the programme being implemented is one
aimed at economic development, these
organizations can be involved in the
identification of beneficiaries and in
procuring the inputs as well as in disposal
of the products. Similarly, they can be
involved in the provision of basic services
by being associated with the selection of
areas, beneficiaries and the type of basic
services required on a priority basis.
Involvement of local organizations can
also help in minimising undesirable
interference and ensuring that the services
reach the really deserving areas and
beneficiaries, for it is often found that the
benefits meant for a particular group or
area get diverted to another due to pressure
from the local power structures.
34
The need to strengthen grass root level
organizations of women to ensure that the
benefits of development flow to women
in rural areas, as well as to promote
participatory development, has been
endorsed by various committees and
there is acceptance of this idea at the
international level also. Promotion and
strengthening of this infrastructure should,
therefore, find an appropriate place in the
future strategy for rural woman's
programmes.
Mass illiteracy and lack of communication
are at the core of all the problems that
rural women face. To help them out of
their present situation, it is necessary to
establish primary contacts with them. It is
not feasible for professionals with a limited
scope for mass communication to establish
this contact. It can be facilitated if a cadre
of local workers is created from the local
women themselves and trained for the
purpose. These workers can strengthen
the support system, functioning as a link
between the rural women and extension
and input supply agencies. They can also
function as catalysts in organizing rural
women and in building up their
organization to create an institutional
base for their development.
Community workers can be more
effective as they are much nearer the
people and have an intimate understanding
of their problems and needs. Such workers
should be identified and selected by the
community so that they can enjoy their
trust and confidence. This will also
promote community participation and
involvement in planning, resource
mobilisation and implementation of
the programme as per the needs of the
local population.
As stated earlier, a scheme for training
and use of associate workers was
implemented by the Government of
India under the community development
programme.The objective of the programme
was to identify local women with
leadership qualities and train and
deploy them as community workers. The
programme was not, however, tried widely.
There are. of course, examples of successful
experiments of working with such
identified community workers in many
developing countries, including ours,
both by governmental and
non-governmental agencies.
and a single-line hierarchy connecting
various levels of supervision from national
to State to district to block and village
levels to facilitate this.
One such successful experiment is a
project in the Ahmednagar district of
Maharashtra. The project started in 1970
as an experiment in primary health care
services in 30 villages, covering a
population of 40,000. It trained female
village workers and brought ayurvedic
doctors, traditional midwives and healers
into the system for delivery of health care
services. In course of time these workers
felt that the priorities of the villagers had
changed from health services to agriculture,
food production, access to roads,
electricity, provision of irrigation, drinking
water, housing, etc. As a result the project
is responding to these needs also.
Working with community workers
does not, however, minimise the need
for strengthening the professional
infrastructure. Community workers
also need constant guidance, technical
information and supervision, which calls
for strengthening of the supervisory levels
35
One of the major weaknesses in the
implementation of programmes for rural
women and children has been the
inadequate attention given to training
of functionaries at various levels. Training
is necessary for orientation of the
functionaries, to bring about a change in
their outlook, to help in comprehension of
the problems and needs, proper perception
of the programme, understanding of the
system and the mode of working in
co-operation and co-ordination with
others. Training is also necessary in
programme planning, programme contents
and priorities, in skills and knowledge in
subject matters, techniques of supervision,
etc. However, the scope and contents of
training will vary according to the role
and functions of various categories of
personnel. Training and orientation can
be arranged through institutional training/
seminars/workshops, etc. In the case of
rural women it is, however, felt that
training should be organized close to their
homes as far as possible.
activities suitable for particular
geographical locations. The Khadi and
Village Industries Commission and the
Small Scale Industries Service Institutes
are also promoting various income
generating activities with suitable
arrangements for training, which can be
very profitably availed of by rural women.
A scheme for training of rural youth for
self-employment, popularly known as
TRYSEM, has also been launched. Under
it concerted efforts are being made to
train and equip the youth of the target
group of small and marginal farmers,
landless labourers, rural artisans and
other rural poor with the necessary
knowledge, skills and technology relating
to various facets of economic activities in
the rural areas, particularly in agriculture
and allied sectors. The main thrust of the
scheme is to enable young boys and girls
in rural areas to seek self-employment.
Rural women can be trained under
TRYSEM to enable them to start self
employment projects.
Keeping in view the occupations women
are now engaged in and the roles in which
they have the potential to develop their
skills and which are income-generating,
the following areas could probably be
thought of for training of women in self
employment :
INTEGRATING WOMEN'S
PROGRAMMES IN THE RURAL
DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
Rural women's programmes do not
necessarily need to be built upon a separate
platform. They can well be integrated
with the overall rural development
programme (implemented by the Ministry
of Rural Reconstruction) provided specific
attention is paid to the needs peculiar to
women, to strengthen their existing role
and to promote their participation in
development activities. IRDP offers various
schemes in activities with which women
are already familiar and in which they can
be better deployed with the provision of
training and supply of necessary inputs
like raw materials and institutional credit
facilities.
raising of nurseries; vegetable and fruit
production; mushroom production; raising
forest nurseries; poultry rearing; piggery;
sheep rearing; sericulture; bee-keeping;
dairying; fisheries; handicrafts; carding,
spinning, weaving of cotton, silk work,
etc.; tailoring, stitching, embroidery and
knitting; dyeing and printing; hand made
paper; soap from inedible oil; cottage
match-making; bidi making; cane and
bamboo work; coir and other fibre
industry; toy and curio making; doll
making; processing of foodgrains, spices,
fruit and vegetables,- drying of grains,
vegetables, fruit and fish; bakery;
util-isation of agricultural by-products
for cattle and poultry feeds; watch,
radio repairing and assembly; nursing;
veterinary services; sale of eatables; etc.
Supply of storage bins, distribution of
milch animals, bee-keeping, sericulture,
farm forestry, fisheries, horticulture, rural
industries and artisans programmes are
being promoted under IRDP. Women
can be gainfully employed in all these
activities, with identification of the
The role of rural woman is not confined
only to the economic sphere. She is the
37
for special infrastructural support to
release women's time and energy for
deployment in more constructive
activities, which will be more beneficial,
both socially and economically. The
programme has to be a synthesis of
measures to develop their economic
status on the one hand and the provision
of basic services to ensure their effective
participation in the development
process on the other.
one who has to provide meals for the
family, do the storing, processing and
preservation of food, normally arrange for
fuel for cooking and is fully responsible
for looking after the children. Her working
conditions, her motivation and her
awareness are significant for shaping the
future of the children. But traditional
social norms and the economic system
are against women. These do not consider
woman's role in child development and
home-making of any consequence, nor
do they accord her economic contribution
much significance. As a result, in India a
child is born in deprivation, which
continues throughout his life. Child
mortality and morbidity rates in India are
still one of the highest, due to inadequate
attention paid to mothers’ health, lack of
proper child care facilities and essential
services, like the supply of pure drinking
water, primary health care services and
services that could improve the working
conditions of rural women. Similarly,
women have hardly any scope for
improving their economic status.
It is now well recognised that basic
to all development programmes is the
development of human resources, which
means ensuring a greater survival rate for
children, creating conditions for their ideal
growth and developing the awareness,
understanding and skills of adults and
the youth who could contribute to the
development process.
Women constitute nearly half the
manpower of the country. The need to
integrate them in the development process
and also to assess and analyse the issues
related to their participation is now well
accepted. Past experience with rural
women’s programmes can provide the
necessary direction for required changes
in future strategy to achieve this goal.
The most significant lesson learnt from
past experience is that the women's
programme has to be built on a proper
perception of their role, which is
multifarious in nature, and that their
roles vary significantly in different local
groups. It is also necessary to understand
the relevance of their contribution to the
rural development strategy, and the need
38
TABLES
Table I
Sex Ratio (Number of Females per 1000 Males)
1901-1971 (State-wise) Rural only.
STATES
1971
1961
1951
1941
1931
1921
1911
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
949
983
912
971
951
870
976
882
1020
956
985
980
958
971
928
1002
868
919
884
990
944
889
942
963
988
887
1012
956
874
961
884
1027
970
995
1018
971
973
953
1015
865
913
911
1003
936
924
943
965
985
878
1001
964
877
932
882
1033
975
1000
1039
969
974
1005
1029
854
919
912
1014
909
925
939
965
981
886
1006
954
879
907
881
1033
980
989
1044
991
965
1000
1058
855
907
920
1017
891
923
945
966
989
885
1003
948
851
915
876
1028
983
987
1048
989
972
1005
1071
832
908
967
1034
889
917
961
970
994
906
1023
947
848
908
879
1016
982
994
1029
1009
975
999
1089
808
896
970
1033
888
909
971
975
991
923
1048
943
834
905
886
1012
991
1000
1023
1024
984
1006
1058
785
904
951
1044
894
922
982
979
983
929
1057
951
861
899
888
1008
995
1003
1039
1047
984
997
1039
836
898
916
1043
887
940
994
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15,
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
INDIA
ANDHRA PRADESH
ASSAM
BIHAR
GUJARAT
HARYANA
HIMACHAL PRADESH
JAMMU & KASHMIR
KERALA
MADHYA PRADESH
MAHARASHTRA
MANIPUR
MEGHALAYA
MYSORE •
NAGALAND
ORISSA
PUNJAB
RAJASTHAN
SIKKIM
TAMILNADU
TRIPURA
UTTAR PRADESH
WEST BENGAL
1901
UNION TERRITORIES
630
654
574
671
495
303
352
1. ANDAMAN & NICOBAR
318
894
N.A.
N.A.
N.A.
N.A.
N.A.
N.A.
881
2. ARUNACHAL PRADESH
715
781
743
683
763
751
720
771
3. CHANDIGARH
963
946
925
911
940
967
4. DADRA & NAGAR HAVELI 1007
960
937
946
960
825
847
945
969
916
5. DELHI
1084
1083
1088
1030
1143
1122
1103
1085
6. GOA. DAMAN & DIU
994
978
1020
1043
1018
1027
987
7. LAKSHADWEEP
1063
•
•
•
984
1001
1053
1031
1058
8. PONDICHERRY
947
1017
1049
1069
1102
1109
1120
1113
9. MIZORAM
• Reproduced from 'Country Review and Analysis prepared by a National Level Committee, 980—
unpublished.
41
Table II
Age-wise death rates in India (Rural) during 1971 & 1 976
Age Group
0—4
5—9
10—14
15—19
20—24
25—29
30—34
35—39
40—44
45—49
50—54
55—59
60—64
65—69
70 & ABOVE
ALL AGES
Total
Female
Male
1971
1976
1971
1976
1971
1976
53.2
5.0
2.2
2.4
3.4
3.2
4.2
5.7
7.7
11.0
19.8
24.9
37.4
54.5
113.4
16.0
54.2
4.8
2.6
2.7
3.0
3.5
4.7
4.8
10.1
12.5
20.5
29.8
52.6
59.1
119.6
16.0
59.3
5.4
2.3
3.3
4.7
4.7
5.7
6.4
6.3
8.8
15.0
18.0
33.9
44.4
112.4
16.8
55.9
5.4
2.6
3.1
4.4
5.0
5.1
5.3
4.9
8.1
12.7
18.7
35.0
47.3
85.7
16.6
56.2
5.2
2.2
2.7
4.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
9.0
17.5
21.6
35.7
40.5
112.8
16.4
55.2
5.2
2.6
2.9
3.7
4.3
5.0
5.1
7.4
9.7
16.6
24.1
42.8
53.0
101.6
.16.3
42
Table III
Mean age at marriage by sex in States/Union Territories (rural) 1961 and 1971
SI.
State/Union
No.
Territories
Male
Female
Male
1
2
3
4
5
6
1961
1971
Female
INDIA
STATES
1. ANDHRA PRADESH
2. ASSAM
3. BIHAR
4. GUJARAT
5. HIMACHAL PRADESH
6. JAMMU El- KASHMIR
7. KARNATAKA
8. KERALA
9. MADHYA PRADESH
10. MAHARASHTRA
11. MANIPUR
12. ORISSA
13. PUNJAB
14. RAJASTHAN
15. TAMIL NADU
16. TRIPURA
17. UTTAR PRADESH
18. WEST BENGAL
20.80
15.69
21.56
16.67
21.67
24.87
18.35
20.64
21.13
21.74
23.75
25.59
17.82
21.17
24.22
21.52
21.11
18.97
24.46
23.39
18.16
22.84
15.12
18.52
14.54
16.77
15.63
15.89
16.01
19.99
14.01
15.10
19.83
16.45
17.21
14.41
18.23
16.13
14.46
15.20
22.11
24.87
19.48
21.27
22.24
22.79
24.25
26.11
18.40
22.37
24.86
22.46
21.82
19.05
25.17
24.69
18.76
23.64
15.94
18.21
15.34
17.86
17.24
17.25
17.33
20.74
14.66
16.56
20.82
17.15
18.33
15.02
19.32
18.12
15.09
17.78
UNION TERRITORIES
DELHI
GOA. DAMAN & DIU
19.09
25.89
16,00
20.35
20.69
25.97
17.16
20.82
19.
20.
43
Table IV
Per Cent children attending school by single year, age and sex, 1 978
Age
Rural
Urban
(years)
Male
1
2
3
4
5
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
10.97
28.41
42.50
55.90
63.82
67.20
68.74
66.94
65.33
61.69
55.52
7.85
22.24
31.37
40.26
43.93
44.64
43.29
40.83
37.45
31.58
27.02
26.27
51.71
71.75
83.55
86.05
87.79
86.96
86.43
84.15
81.33
77.25
23.75
49.31
67.75
76.32
80.55
80.09
80.26
77.25
73.93
72.28
65.94
Female
Male
Female
Table V
Rural Female literacy rates in State and Union Territories, 1 971
SI.No.
State/U.Ts.
Literacy
Rates
1.
2.
3.
4.
KERALA
LAKSHADWEEP
GOA, DAMAN & DIU
ANDAMAN & NICOBAR
ISLANDS
PONDICHERRY
DELHI
PUNJAB
TAMIL NADU
MEGHALAYA
HIMACHAL PRADESH
MAHARASHTRA
CHANDIGARH
TRIPURA
GUJARAT
NAGALAND
ASSAM
52.63
30.36
30.25
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
SI.No.
State/U.Ts.
Literacy
Rates
17.
MANIPUR
16.00
18.
WEST BENGAL
14.63
14.37
MYSORE
19.
20.
11.94
ORISSA
21.
10.88
ANDHRA PRADESH
22.
9.00
HARYANA
23.
DADRA & NAGAR HAVELI 7.77
24..
U.P.
6.59
25.
BIHAR
6.06
26.
MADHYA PRADESH
6.00
27.
4.74
J&K
28.
RAJASTHAN
3.85
29.
ARUNACHAL PRADESH
2.86
30.
ALL INDIA
12.92
According to 1971 census, literatet females
in the total rural female population is
approximately 13%.
25.57
23.49
20.00
19.78
18.87
18.59
17.93
17.49
17.47
17.43
17.07
16.74
16.26
44
Table VI
Decline in Work Participation Rate for Female in
Rural India aged 1 5-59. 1961 -71.
Work partici
pation rate
1961
Work partici
pation rate
1971
7.13
11.80
0.77
0.34
11.80
0.09
0.22
0.77
30.02
30.72
3.42
0.37
12.60
0.13
0.51
0.78
CULTIVATOR
AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS
HOUSEHOLD INDUSTRY
MANUFACTURING
PLANTATION, ETC.
CONSTRUCTION
TRADE AND COMMERCE
OTHER SERVICES
Table VII
Employment of Working Women
Activities
Percentage in different activities
CULTIVATORS
AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS
ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
MINING AND QUARRYING
MANUFACTURING
(HOUSEHOLD INDUSTRY)
MAUFACTURING
(OTHER THAN HOUSEHOLD)
CONSTRUCTION
TRADE AND COMMERCE
TRANSPORT AND
COMMUNICATION
OTHER SERVICES
45
SCs
STs
Others
14.02
76.63
1.52
0.25
42.98
50.10
2.47
0.48
36.43
48.37
2.28
0.28
2,73
1.36
4.24
1.36
0.31
0.38
0.74
0.16
0.34
1.91
0.41
1.31
0.09
2.64
100.00
0.07
1.26
100.00
0.09
4.17
100.00
Table VIII
Per cent children by present age, sex and type of child care when rural mother
goes to work.
Present Age
Item
Sex
Below 1 year
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years
5 years
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
56.14
60.14
18.35
17.24
18.02
17.64
0.45
0.22
3.16
2.52
3.88
3.24
100.00
100.00
52.74
53.21
18.59
16.60
19.31
22.47
0.41
53.00
53.01
15.21
16.90
21.50
19.40
0.17
0.22
3.86
3.33
6.25
7.14
100.00
100.00
55.02
53.30
14.24
13.52
19.82
21.38
0.17
0.08
3.35
.3.45
7.40
8.28
100.00
100.00
48.74
45.17
14.64
18.17
22.54
20.23
0.20
0.32
3.36
3.18
10.53
11.54
100.00
100.00
48.34
50.40
12.43
11.56
19.49
19.52
0.13
0.19
2.24
3.36
17.36
14.97
100.00
100.00
MOTHER
MALE
64.78
65.57
HERSELF
FEMALE
GRAND
MALE
16.26
PARENTS
FEMALE
15.96
MALE
14.54
OTHER PERSONS
IN THE HOUSEHOLD FEMALE 13.84
MALE
SERVANTS
0.15
FEMALE
0.13
OTHER PERSONS
MALE
2.89
NOT RELATED
FEMALE
3.10
MALE
NONE
1.38
FEMALE
1.40
100.00
ALL CLASSES
MALE
FEMALE 100.00
0.14
4.19
3.03
4.73
4.55
100.00
100.00
46
6 years
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Commission on Agriculture, 1976, vols. 1—15. New Delhi : Ministry, 1976.
Part 1. Review and progress, p. 494
Part 2. Policy and strategy, p. 197
Part 3. Demand and supply, p. 195
Part 4. Climate and agriculture, p. 638 + maps
Part 5. Resource development, p. 344
Part 6. Crop production; sericulture and epiculture, p. 501
Part 7. Animal husbandry, p. 531
Part 8. Fisheries
Part 9. Forestry, p. 455
Part 10. Inputs, p. 425
Part 11. Research, education and extension, p. 270
Part 12. Supporting services and incentives, p. 229
Part 13. Rural employment and special area programmes, p. 191
Part 14. Planning, statistics and administration,
Part 15. Agrarian reforms, p. 310
An abridged version of this report was published in 1977.
16.
INDEPENDENT COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ISSUES,
Report of the—. North South : A programme for survival. London : Pan Books
Ltd., 1980, p. 304.
PHOTO CREDITS
Cover Photo : UNICEF/Bhawan Singh
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S.C. Varma
UNICEF/Prakash
UNICEF/Myers
UNICEF/Satyan
UNICEF/Satyan
UNICEF/Myers
UNICEF/Prakash
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Back cover :
UNICEF/Myers
UNICEF/Prakash
S.C. Varma
48
UNICEF/Mathur
UNICEF/Myers
UNICEF/Mathur
UNICEF/Dutia
UNICEF/Myers
UNICEF/Myers
UNICEF/Myers
UNICEF/Satyan
UNICEF/Nagarajan
UNICEF/Myers
> It is not true that the issues relating to
rural women have been totally ignored.
But a sense of half-heartedness and lack of
interest are noticeable in the executiori of
most of the programmes meant for them. CJ)
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