Making Women Equal Partners in Development

The plan to set up 15 thousands women self-help groups (SHGs) in the country, as disclosed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, may have a widespread impact not only in empowering women, but also in several other spheres of life. The said plan, if implemented on a mission mode, may change the lives of women in the country by making them equal partners in development and prosperity. Successful implementation of the initiative will definitely put an end to the age-old practice of confining women to household works. Again, considering the huge human resources available in the country, this step can be termed as a judicious one as it can provide an opportunity to almost half of the population who have reached the working age, to serve the nation in a better manner, rather than wasting their talents in household works.

An analysis of the country’s population will help us understand the benefits of the plan better. As per the available data, 52 per cent of the Indian population is aged below 30 years. A rough estimate tells that nearly 72 crore people in India are just waiting for the right opportunity to take the nation forward. Considering the country’s sex-ratio, one can easily come to a conclusion that women constitute almost half of this available workforce. Failing to provide enough employment avenues to the women means the country will be devoid of the services of almost half of the eligible population. This is, beyond a doubt, a great loss and the advantage of being a country of youths will bear no positive results.

So providing working opportunities to women should be our priority; currently, it is dismal to say the least. In recent times, only 10 per cent of women are part of the country’s workforce. Furthermore, women workforce was at the receiving end when the Covid pandemic broke out in 2020 as most of them, mainly working as daily wage earners, got sacked without any prior intimation. It is a pity that many of them are yet to be reinstated although it’s been a while since normalcy returned. Such a situation should be changed immediately as the dream of becoming a developed nation by 1947 can only be fulfilled by using all the available resources, not by allowing assets to go to waste.

SHGs can be a useful tool in this quest by offering skill development training to women, so that they can decide their own fate without being dependent on anyone. There are many instances of self-help groups doing remarkably well in their respective fields. In fact, women can do much better than men in many areas if proper opportunities are provided. Panchayats can support SHGs by placing orders for items made by them instead of tendering it to big suppliers. Such small but significant steps will help tremendously in nation-building. It should be our endeavour to make every woman an equal partner in development for the sake of the nation.