An Inter-state Comparison of Status of Women in Some Selected

States of India with Special Reference to Assam.

Presented by:

Annesha Mech

M.A in Economics,

Dibrugarh University

Introduction:

Status of women implies the position that women possess in the society in

relation to men.

With passage of time though Indian women have progressed in different field

but there are yet a major portion who still are deprived of basic needs and

amenities of life. Different indicators are used for assessing the status of women

in different aspects which are vitally interlinked with concepts of power and

position they hold in the society.

Objectives:

1) Comparative analysis of status of women in Assam to some selected major

states of India with the help of some selected indicators.

2) Some governmental schemes implemented by Assam government for

upliftment of women.

3) Some ways for improving the status of women in Assam.

Materials and Methodology:

All the relevant information and data were collected using secondary data from

various sources such as journals, newspapers, Census Reports of the Government,

NFHS-III, Sample Registration System etc.

Different indicators were used such as male -female literacy gap rate, number of

girls enrolled per 100 boys, drop-out rate of girls, Female Infant Mortality Rate,

Maternal Mortality Ratio, Percentage of pregnant anaemic women & Percentage

of Safe Delivery, number of women members in Lok Sabha , Number of women

with bank accounts, number of women having operational landholdings and

women’s participation in decision making, Percentage of women employed in

organized sector, Sex ratio and incidence of crime committed against women

to make an Inter-state Comparison of Status of Women in Some Selected

seventeen States of India with Special Reference to Assam

15.82

11.54

20.06

16.5

18.61

14.23 14.72

4.04

20.51

14.34

4.32

18.04

10.14

27.85

12.95

19.98

11.51

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

ma

le-f

em

ale

li

tera

cy g

ap

ra

te i

n %

states

Inter-state comparison of male-female literacy gap rate (%)

Results and Discussion:

Educational status of women can be analysed by using some indicators like:

male-female literacy gap rate, number of girls enrolled per 100 boys and drop-

out rate of girls.

Chart 1:

Source: Census of India,2011

Sl.

No

States Drop-out rates, Class I-X (6-16 yrs)

(2009-10)

No. of girls enrolled per 100 boys, 2006-07

Boys Girls Total Classes I-VIII Classes IX-X

1 Andhra 52.73 54.02 53.36 96 90

2 Assam 77.41 77.82 77.60 96 79

3 Bihar 78.46 76.06 77.56 71 50

4 Gujarat 60.37 64.41 62.14 76 69

5 Haryana 20.17 19.46 19.84 87 87

6 Himachal 22.28 18.93 20.65 90 90

7 Karnataka 46.89 46.33 46.62 93 90

8 Kerala -2.94 -5.20 -4.06 95 97

9 M.P 60.98 71.32 65.71 88 59

10 Maharashtra 38.63 42.62 40.54 90 88

11 Mizoram 64.79 60.72 62.87 94 99

12 Odisha 69.98 65.91 68.19 89 83

13 Punjab 41.23 39.45 40.42 87 80

14 Rajasthan 70.52 73.42 71.64 80 51

15 Tamil Nadu 37.56 30.28 34.06 94 94

16 U.P 29.19 15.09 23.83 82 53

17 West Bengal 72.89 70.70 71.83 98 77

Table 2:

Statewise drop-out rates in class (I-X) & No. of girls enrolled per 100 boys

Source:Abstract of Selected Educational Statistics 2009-10* & 2006-07 ** Ministry of Human Resource Development; GoI[5]

13

23 25

33 34 35 37 3942

45 46 4853

56 58 5962

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Fem

ale

-In

fan

t M

ort

ali

ty R

ate

Inter-state comparison of Female Infant Mortality Rate

(per 1000 live births) for year 2011.

Source: Sample Registration System(2012)

Health status: Different health indicators such as female infant mortality rate, maternal

mortality ratio, percentage of pregnant anaemic women and percentage of safe delivery are

used for assessing the health status of women.

Chart 3:

134

390

261

148 153178

81

269

104

258

172

318

97

359

145

050

100150200250300350400450

Mate

rnal

Mort

ali

ty R

ati

oChart 4:

Inter-state comparison of Maternal Mortality Ratio (per 1 lakh live births) (2007-09)

58.2

7260.2 60.8

69.7

39.2

60.4

33.8

57.9 57.851.7

68.1

41.6

61.754.6 51.6

62.675.6

40.931.9

62.153.4 51

71.5

99.4

50.1

69.463.5

50.9

77.1

52.7

95.6

30.1

51.6

Chart 4.1:

Inter-state comparison of percentage of pregnant anaemic women age 15-49(2005-06) & percentage of

safe delivery(2007-08)

pregnant anaemic women(%) safe delivery(%)

Source: Sample Registration System (2010)

Source: NFHS-III(2005-06) & DLHS-3 (2007-08)

Political Status: For empowerment women need to have a voice in decision making and planning

through adequate representation.The number of women members in the Lok Sabha is used in assessing

the political status of women.

52 4 4 2 1

63 4 3

13

7

37

12

36

22

84

27

2023

45

1

21

10

22

39

67

35

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

inte

rsta

te

com

pa

riso

n o

f m

ale

-fe

ma

le

ga

p i

n

nu

mb

er

of

me

mb

ers

in

Lo

k S

ab

ha

States

Chart 5:

Number of women members in Lok Sabha(2009)

Female Male

Source: www.parliamentofIndia.nic.in

Socio-Economic status: Number of women with bank accounts, number of women having operational

landholdings and women’s participation in household decision making and percentage of women

employed in organised sector are used as indicators for assessing economic empowerment and

independence of women.

60062

7284 971322067 18964

4401

76868

55129

23120

174854

197810955

24590 22875

84634

3823125851

Table 6:

Statewise comparison of no. of women with credit accounts (credit limit above Rs 2

lakhs) under all scheduled commercial banks in India as on 31st March 2006

No. of women with bank accounts

Source: Ministry of Women and Child Development.(2009)

2347

53

1119

470

142 63

11341374

483

1878

7125

8198

14171266

226

Chart 6.1:

No. Of women having operational land holdings(in thousands) during agricultural census

2000-01

No. Of women having operational land holdings

40.4

60.9

32.736.6

41.7 39.235.2

47.2

29.4

45.4

70.4

41.837.4

22.8

48.8

33.7

23.9

Chart 6.2:

Inter-state comparison of percentage of married women who participate in household

decisions(%)

Currently married women who participate in household decisions(%)

Source:Ministry of Women and Child Development(2009)

Source: NFHS-3(2005-06)

Sex ratio and incidence of crimes committed against women are used as a social indicators reflecting how much

woman as a human-being enjoy the right of survival, protection and development in the society.

992 954 916 918 877974 968

1084

930 925 975 978893 926

995908 947

Chart 8:

Inter-state comparison of Sex-ratio (2011)

Sex-ratio(2011) (no. of females per 1000 males)

21.8

33.3

5.2

14.7 17.1

32.740.1

13.8 16.8

26.4

15.321.3

17.4

33.7

11.6 12.5

Chart 7:

Inter-state comparison of percentage of women employed to total employed in organised

sector; 2009.Percentage of women employed to total employment

Source: Directorate of General Employment and Training, Ministry of Labour ;(2009)

Source: Census of India,2011 (Provisional Data)

Sl

No

State Rape Kidnapping and

abduction

Dowry

deaths

Molestation Sexual

harassment

Immoral

Traffic

Prevention

Act

Cruelty

by

husband

1 Andhra 1188 1526 546 5147 3520 279 11297

2 Assam 1631 2092 170 1342 10 37 4398

3 Bihar 929 1986 1295 726 12 40 2532

4 Gujarat 433 1162 24 727 114 41 5506

5 Haryana 603 659 281 451 605 90 2617

6 Himachal

Pradesh

183 122 1 318 37 5 284

7 Karnataka 509 408 264 2186 64 329 3185

8 Kerala 568 173 20 2540 395 314 4007

9 M.P 2998 841 858 6307 728 19 3983

10 Maharashtra 1483 926 341 3196 1099 271 7681

11 Mizoram 83 -- -- 61 1 1 4

12 Odisha 1023 799 384 2697 210 14 2047

13 Punjab 511 513 126 319 33 59 1061

14 Rajasthan 1519 2310 436 2485 24 62 10371

15 Tamil Nadu 596 1133 194 1242 501 716 1460

16 U.P 1759 5078 2232 2782 2524 39 8566

17 West Bengal 2336 2187 506 1942 108 63 16112

Table 9:

Statewise incidence of crime committed against women during 2009

Source: National Crime Record Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs;2009

Different schemes that are implemented by Assam government for

uplifting women status:

Janani Suraksha Yojana

Majoni Scheme

Janani Sishu Suraksha Karyakram

Grants in aid to Assam state Commission for women to provide legal help to women in

distress.

Financial incentives under Nabau and Baideu Schemes

National Bowari Scheme

Anganwadi Karjakatay Bima yojana

Sawaymsidha

Some Suggestions for improving status of women in Assam:

• Value based education, self –defence courses for girls, skill developing courses should be

introduced in the curriculum.

•Training for employment and for other income generating activities with the aim of

making women economically independent.

•Every educated youth has a great role to play in creating awareness among women

about their rights through campaigns in remote areas.

•Maternity care facilities need to be improved

•Education is utmost necessary for each and every girl child.

Conclusion:

The status of women in Assam is quite satisfactory in terms of women who have

access to all needs and opportunities of life but there are still a major section who

receive deprivation and discrimination in every steps of life. Every women should

unite together to stand against the social evils. The status of women would be

improve in real sense only when society’s attitude towards women change and

when each women are treated and respected as an equally human being.

“Be The

Change

You Wish To See In

The World” ---

Mahatma Gandhi

THANK YOU