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In India the women are being kept on a different pedestal. In Vedic scriptures it is said that where women are worshipped, there lives the triad of health, wealth and prosperity. And where women are tortured and neglected, the family and the whole nation perish. This is the status a woman has got in our Indian society. Today a lady has come out of the shackles and the boundaries, and women have also started flying high in the sky; they have gained such a height that the world seems to be a small place for them. A daughter, a wife, a mother and so many other roles to play-- the lady of today has achieved excellence in almost every field. They now prove themselves in every sphere of life and perhaps reinforce the saying that a perfect woman is near to God. Our Indian society is made on two strong pillars- one is male and the other is female. Both of them play a very significant role. They both have to be equally strong to lay a strong foundation for a better society. In order to have a strong society we have to empower our Indian women in all spheres of life. In spite of comprising 50 percent of the population on the globe, women have not been given equal status with men. In fact, a major part of this sentiment can be attributed to gender role socialization that regiments the process of raisings boys and girls for different roles. In global recognition of problems of women and efforts of several persons the UN declared the year 1975-85 as Women’s decade. Increased awareness, education and efforts of the government resulted in some change of the attitudes among women and on women. This changed attitude resulted in redefinition of some of the roles women play in our society. This is evident in the increased participation of women in education, employment, polity, decision-making, health and family planning and also in raising of voices against social evils like dowry, female foeticide and other socio-political and economic issues. The recent social changes have given women an opportunity to enter a different developmental stage which was once forbidden for them. Despite all said and done, Indian women are still far behind when compared to women in the west. This is mainly due to the age-old traditional norms and restrictions that are imposed on them. Hence education for women will ultimately help in the overall development and improvement of women in their social, economic, health and political status. Stanely Jaya Kumar in his article “Changing directions in the status and role of Women in India” critically discusses the changes that are taking place in the status and role of women in contemporary Indian society. Because of the role relationships, the traditional social structure, cultural norms and value systems continue to place Indian women in a disadvantaged group and seek to put them in distress and much more in similar circumstances. Our Indian women are not only becoming strong and upgraded in their
social life but even politically they also are stretching out their arms in various sectors. Dr S.V Shinde in his research paper “Women in Indian Politics” (vol. I 2011) has advocated the political role of Indian women. According to him an important area where women have been inadequately represented is the political sphere. Articles 325 and 326 of the Constitution of India guarantee political equality, equal right to participation in political activities and the right to vote respectively. In 1990, the United Nation's Economic and Social Council endorsed a target of 30 per cent women in decision-making positions in the world by 1995. Looking at the statistical trend in the first Lok Sabha, we find that there were only 22 women constituting 4.4 % of the House. It has increased marginally over the years; the female participation now shows a fairly good percentage of 51 in the fourteenth Lok Sabha. Similarly in Rajya Sabha, in 1952 the percentage of female participation was merely 6.94% of the membership. Over the years the percentage of women has increased to 9.50 % of the House. It is not just the case that females have shown their active participation in contesting elections and securing their positions politically, but the records even show a tremendous increase in the percentage of the female voters. Out of the 543 total constituencies of the Lok Sabha, the number of elected women in Lok Sabha increased from 49 in 1999 to 59 in 2009.Apart from this, the percentage of women voters has also increased from 55.6 % to 55.8% in the above said period. However, the recent changing trends in the structure of the society, advancement of science and technology, women’s education and participation in workforce have created new awareness for women to elevate their status. Factors impacting women's economic empowerment are many. But a few of them include violence (domestic violence, female foeticide, sexual abuse and others). Apart from these, even in small areas due to illiteracy people do not send their daughters to school. They think that the education is the copyright of boy and the girls are born to do only household work. These factors hinder the path of success of a girl and subsequently the whole nation suffers as only one pillar becomes strong and the other one is neglected. This creates a state of vacuum which needs to be filled up. The government and many NGOs have started working in this filed and they are trying to make people aware of the importance of the girl child. Their efforts have started showing results. Nowadays females are becoming socially awakened and have also started to know their rights and responsibilities. They are proving themselves in every spheres of life. Whether it is the role of a perfect homemaker or a proficient leader and entrepreneur in the social front, women are moving ahead and filling up the vacuum that was prevailing in the society. The society needs to be changed for the overall development and the development lies in the upliftment and upgradation of both pillars of society as has been rightly stated by Kofi Annan “ when women thrive, all of society benefits, and generations are given a better start in life”. Swati Priya, Assistant Professor, School of Business