By Anoushka Adya,
Women from rural India will play an important role to empower India and the economy – Empowering them to be the next change makers
When you hear the word “empowerment,” what does it mean to you? Many of us associate empowerment with independence, strength and unity. Yet, many of us take empowerment for granted everyday. How? Our daily lives enable us to enjoy independent lives by:
- Receiving an education
- Choosing our career paths
- And most importantly, making our own life decisions
In India, more than half the population live in rural areas – that’s more than half a billion people. People living in these communities lack things that we deem as necessities like running water, electricity, education, food and healthcare. Women especially face even more challenges due to stigmas and social hierarchical boundaries. Women—no matter where they are at the moment — can become changemakers. They are the nation’s soul, and that’s one of the key reasons we need to persistently put efforts toward women’s empowerment in all aspects.
Women’s empowerment is catalytic and central to achieving economic, social, and environmental goals. One young girl can change her life and that of her family, Empowered young girls in a village can change the fortune of the village, and this cascading effect can create change for generations to come — all of this benefiting entire communities.
So while many of us may consider a “change maker” as someone who is making a global impact –this is not the case at all. Whether it’s managing their family’s farm or working as a rickshaw driver, ordinary women are change makers in their own light, and as a result, they are not only supporting their families, but also their communities, and in turn the nation at large.
Women are free human beings. They are not birds, so they can’t be caged. Today, women want to weave their own safety net, they prefer to step out, like to voice their opinion, want to enhance their skill sets, and love to learn, work, earn, grow, and live their dreams. Women—no matter where they live, whether urban, rural, or tribal—want to be changemakers today. They are the nation’s soul and with the penetration of internet and social media, they are learning to empower themselves in all aspects.
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And empowering women and girls is crucial to achieving a better future for all.
Yet, India’s vast population of women at the grassroots-level continue to face innumerable challenges. Economic hardship, social discrimination and lack of opportunities are present at almost every step of their lives. Yet, several women rise above their crippling circumstances to chart a new course for themselves and emerge as changemakers, driving social change.
After extensive field work, I have some key suggestions to ensure that there is sustainable change at the ground level:
Lesson #1: Girl child education in rural India
Girl child education is the main milestone for women empowerment because it equips them to respond to the challenges, to confront their traditional roles and alter their lives. Girls’ education is the most powerful tool to change their status not only within the family but in society as well.
Educated women are more likely to work and be financially independent, and they are also more likely to devote more income to the family’s welfare thereby uplifting many families out of poverty.
Schooling enables a girl to efficiently engage in both market-focused and household activities. These affect her family’s welfare and enhance her potential contribution to the development of the household, local and regional economy.
Lesson #2: Swift development of villages and a bottom-up approach
Village transformation will play a significant role in the holistic development of rural regions in India. To witness “big change,” we need to adopt a bottom-up approach and use innovative methods to transform rural communities via better connectivity, education and awareness in order to change age-old mindsets and patriarchal customs.
Young girls and women will need to be educated and empowered to become financially independent. Girls will need to step out of the conventional playing field and be an engine of innovation.
This bottom-up approach will be a catalyst for stimulating societal change, preserving ecological sustainability, and creating a prosperous economy.
Lesson #3: Inherent gender bias – changing mindsets
An inherent gender bias in the rural society against female education and women empowerment needs to be changed. That is the most important step to create sustainable change at the ground level.
Women work very hard in rural India as well, and contribute to not only the field work but are also home makers working tirelessly at home. However, far from being given any credit, they are often not even given basic human rights. Child marriage, illiteracy, dowry etc are still rampant which make it very hard for the current and future generations of women to be empowered. These mindsets need to be changed at the ground level by educating the men and families about the benefits of educating their girls and gender equality. This can be enabled by changing the mindsets of Village heads and community heads who will further create a cascading change in the mindsets of their respective villages.
Lesson #4: Making sure the benefits of government schemes trickle down and providing financial incentive to rural women
The government’s huge array of progressive schemes and policies, especially for women in rural India, is a bridge for them to stay encouraged and put a foot forward towards their own socio-economic freedom. However, it is imperative to make sure that they reach them.
Particularly when it comes to rural women empowerment, not enough resources are making it to women, even though women are more likely to invest in their communities in ways that benefit everyone. When women have a voice and social and economic power, they can be tremendous agents of change and help their communities adapt to new challenges better than anyone else.
The key is to help these women financially in order to uplift them, initially and remove the barriers to women’s participation and give them resources and opportunities to lead the development of their communities.
In fact, despite the many obstacles they face, rural women are not victims or inherently vulnerable—if anything, we could all stand to learn from the remarkable resilience they exhibit every single day. If we make sure the benefits reach them and address the obstacles to their participation, help them build skills, and facilitate their access to markets, resources, assets and credit, and crop and livestock diversification, they can help their families and communities prepare for the changes ahead.
Lesson #5: Safety for girls and women
Gender-based violence is a reality in rural India and this is one of the main reasons that parents hesitate to send their girls to school and to work, and often discontinue their education as soon as they start growing up. Girls are central to the Indian poverty story and there needs to be a solution to provide safe education to young girls at all levels, in order to break the cycle of poverty once and for all.
Lack of educational institutions near the villages makes it difficult for girls dwelling in rural regions to travel long distances. The physical safety of the girls, especially, is a matter of great concern.
Conclusion:
Many of us may consider a “change maker” as someone who is making a global impact –this is not the case at all. Every girl and woman is a change maker and must participate in creating sustainable change for the future generations.
After all, many small pieces make a whole, and every drop of water counts in the ocean.
(The author is Founder at Lajja Diaries. Views expressed are personal and do not reflect the official position or policy of the FinancialExpress.com.)