The International Women day is celebrated to commemorate the accomplishments of all those women who created history by challenging the socially created binaries and structures and made marks in different spheres of life. No doubt, we have moved a long way in empowering women ever since 1911, when it was celebrated for the first time to demand equal rights for women. The slogan ‘beti bachao and beti padhao’ says a lot about the ground reality of women's condition in India. Despite introduction of various laws and provisions for eliminating discrimination against women and procuring them special environment  for their development  so that they can act as vehicles of development, the condition of majority of women particularly at grass root level (in India) is quite disappointing. The rate of women drop out from educational institutions and jobs is quite high. The execution of laws for women’s education is a serious problem because the traditional social norms continue to persist in society. Majority of people still prefer male children and spend more money on their education as they perceive male as a support for their old age. The socio- economically weaker sections train their males as decision makers and women as caregiver. In any crisis situation in that family, girls have to sacrifice their education or jobs. Women empowerment is also perceived as a threat to male existence. There is a need to change the social perception and make them aware that   women empowerment does not aim at displacement of males or domination of women rather it aims to make development more inclusive. Women due to her experience have different perceptions and her participation in decision making at different levels will make a difference to the world. For instance, if men think of security in power maximisation, women think in terms of cooperation, diplomacy and peace. Therefore, inclusion of women in the decision making process will make a world more inclusive, holistic and humanistic. Therefore, in the 21st century all males and females should join hands to work towards women empowerment to create a better world to live in. Being educationists, we have to play a significant role to empower women by instilling confidence and imparting skills to girls specially from weaker socio- economic backgrounds so that we give “wings to their dreams”.

 

 

Nirmal Jindal

Principal , Satyawati College

Delhi University

dr.nirmal.jindal@gmail.com