Empowering women is a social responsibility and also a foundational requirement for any nation aspiring toward holistic development. In India, the ratio of women is nearly half the total population. So, women’s empowerment directly contributes to a major part of the economic growth. While changes have been observed in India regarding progress over the decades, after all these major steps, women still face systemic discrimination, economic dependence, and underrepresentation in leadership positions. Even though they have limited access to healthcare and education, and have cultural constraints. Empowering women in India requires major steps in various verticals and also a strategic approach that includes social, economic, political, and legal reforms.
- Education: The First Step Toward Empowerment
As we all know, education is a powerful tool for transforming lives. In many parts of India, girls are drop out of school at an early stage due to poverty, lack of sanitation facilities, early marriage, or cultural bias. The government should provide free and compulsory basic education. And promote safe and girl-friendly infrastructure and culture for girl students. Few more steps are to provide scholarships and mentorship programs. More skill development initiatives should be taken and encourage women to pursue higher education. Vocational and technical courses and also be introduced.
2. Economic Empowerment: Financial Independence is Freedom
We have to encourage women’s workforce participation, as India’s female labor force participation rate remains one of the lowest globally. For this, workplaces should offer flexible work hours and maternity benefits, and childcare facilities should be provided and after after-work skill development program should be encouraged. To empower women financially, the government have taken many initiatives like easy loans with low interest rate. Skill-based training centre in various locations, and digitally also various online platforms and portals are available for her benefit. Women are also made aware of financial knowledge, financial literacy and educated regarding bank loans, saving plans and insurance to make them financially independent.
3. Legal Rights and Protection
If we strengthen the legal awareness in women, it will help them in a various ways like they will know about their legal rights and can fight against domestic violence, dowry, workplace harassment and property rights. Women are still facing hurdles in getting their rights due to gender based legal barriers, which have to be removed so that they can get true empowerment.
4. Health and Wellness
Access to wellness and healthcare is a big challenge in India, especially for Women in rural and poor urban areas. Many women in these areas suffer from poor health, malnutrition and lack of awareness about wellness and healthcare. This can be solved by various government health programs in remote areas, with more focus on mental health, menstrual hygiene and reproductive health. In countries like India, where mental health is a taboo, especially among women. Counselling centres in villages and helplines have to be set up.
5. Social Empowerment: Changing Mindsets
Ending gender stereotypes is very important, as from birth, girls are subjected to social conditioning that limits their potential. To overcome this, we have to promote a positive image of empowered women. We have to raise awareness in society about the traditional gender roles in households and workplaces, and have to replace them with new ones by using storytelling, films and highlight real life women achievers. Violence against women has to be taken care of so that they feel safe in the community from domestic, sexual and emotional fear. As we know, women thrive in supportive environments, that’s why families and communities need to value girls children support their ambitions.
What Does True Empowering for Women Mean
Empowering women in India is not a few-day process but a continuous process that requires multiple actions from homes and schools to boardrooms and parliaments. True empowerment comes when women are free to make choices, access opportunities, and live with dignity and safety. For this, collective efforts from family, society, government, community have to taken so that all can uplift the entire nation.