Md Shakil Anjum
In India, since long, women were considered as an oppressed section of the society and they were neglected for centuries. During national struggle for independence, Mahatma Gandhi gave a call of emancipation of women. Men and women are both equal and both play vital role in the creation and development of their families in particular and society in general. Indeed the struggle for legal equality has been one of the major concerns of the women’s movement. Thus the first task in post independent India was to provide a constitution to the people, which would not make any distinction on the basis of sex. The preamble of the constitution promises to secure to all citizens Justice- social, economical and political. It is really important to note that though the constitution of India is working since more than sixty years, the raising status of women to one of equality, freedom and dignity is still a question mark.
Talking of any religious community, be it Hindu, Muslim, Christianity or Parsi, each have their personal laws and all such laws reflect that the women in these communities have fewer rights than those corresponding to their counterparts in the same situations. This is nothing but “Gender Inequality”. As a concept, “gender inequality” refers to the obvious or hidden disparities among individuals based on the performance of the gender. This problem in simple terms is known as Gender Biasness, which means gender stratification or making difference between a male and a female. India stands at 10th position among 128 countries all over the world, in gender biasness. This is indeed shameful for us.
Gender inequality is not one homogenous phenomenon, but a collection of disparate and interlinked problems. The issue of gender inequality is one of which has been publicly reverberating through society for decades. The problems of inequality in employment being
References: 1. Ahlawat Neerja: Women Organizations & Social Networks, Rawat Publications, Delhi (1995) 2 3. Dak T M: Women & Work in Indian Society, Discovery Publishing House, Delhi (1988) 4 5. Jain Devaki: Women Quest for Power, Vikas Publishing House Pvt Ltd, Sahibabad (1980) 6 7. Lal Sunder: Social Status of Women, ABD Publishers, Jaipur (2005) 8 9. Rahman Zainab: Employment of Rural Indian Women, Kalpaz Publication, Delhi (2007) 10 11. Reddy Raghunadha C: Changing Status of Educated Working Women, B R Publishing Corporation, Delhi (1996) 12