Women got new lease of life when left front government decided to give women her due respect. This is the government, despite limited powers, who empowered women, protected her dignity, opened up educational and working opportunity. There is a historical change in their life.
The government enacted a law to empower women, which gave women one third reservation in corporation and three-tier panchayets. West Bengal is the first state in the country to do so. And the result of the law is such, that now, if we consider the three-tier panchayet’s all seats, there are 38.48% of elected women, which is even higher than the reservation quota. The gram panchayets have 41.73% women. The panchayetsamiti have 39.69% women president. On the other hand, there were many states, which let alone women reservation in panchayets, did not even hold the very election at all for many years. By holding panchayet elections regularly, the state is the role model in this sphere. Except West Bengal, there is no other state which provides 50% subsidy to minority women to form self-help group. The left front government has constructed some corporations to help them get loan and make them economically independent. This is indeed an alternate policy, vision to empower women.
West Bengal established state women commission in 1993. This is the leading state to form the women commission. Still there are many state at large, who have not yet formed the women commission, after repeated request from the National Women’s Commission. Like, Gujarat still has no such commission.
The state also takes the pledge of educating women as its foremost important task. The result of this effort is evidential today. More than 65% women are literate. Now 99% children are going to school. More than 40% girl students are enrolling themselves in higher studies.Mid-day meal helped a lot to achieve this.
Even the women from minority section of the society also became educated in huge number. 65% of the Madrasah students are girl children. To encourage the minority families to let their girl children educated, state government is providing Rs1200 per month for their studies. Even the minority girl student is getting aid for this. The state has also build hostels for them. Even to make the daily grueling household work easier for the minority women and make them ecofriendly, the state government has provided gas oven to 4thousand of them under Rokeya Gas Oven project.
On one hand the central government has started to cartel the provisions on social security. But on the other hand the left front government in this state, with its limited power and scope, has tried to provide the down trodden people. Old age aid is given, specially keeping in mind the women. There are 1lakh 10thousand 7hundred anganwadi centres in west Bengal. Under janani suraksha jojana, the attempt is to make the every birth institutionalized. There is now 69.5% institutionalized birth in our state. One of the most important aspects of state’s social security is that, our state has marched way ahead of national rate in the sphere of longevity, maternal mortality rate, child death rate etc. the ratio between male, female is also higher in state than the national ratio.
The women of this state get co-ownership of their house with their counterpart.Not only this, they are also the co-owner of their land. The empowerment of women not only restricted to economy, it is also spearheaded towards their social empowerment. So 30% of women of this state got land through land reforms. More than 1lakh 61thousand women got pattas only in their name and more than 6lakh 14thousand are joint holders of pattas in this state.
To make the women economically solvent on their own right, there are more than 14lakh self-help groups. Those groups consists 90%0f women. There are number of projects for women under SC, ST and OBC category.
Enactment of laws to protect women from all kinds of untoward incidents, make them feel secure. Yes, there are cases of rape, trafficking, kidnaping of women are happening. In spite of that, there is a sense of protection is prevalent in women. They are working till very late in the nights, going out for entertainment.
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