KARNATAKA has been in the forefront in promoting gender equality, empowering women in economic, socio-cultural and political spheres. As a patriarchal society moves towards gender equality, women need more access to resources, greater political voice and social transformation that allows them to take decisions that affect their own lives as well as society in general. The Karnataka Human Development Report, 2005, says: The stagnation in womens work participation in the poorer districts, the narrowing of their work and income opportunities, growing wage differentials between men and women and the huge and apparently increasing disparities among the higher and lower income regions of the State, when combined with rising aspirations as reflected in womens growing educational involvement, pose a major challenge to the policies of the government.
In the last decade, the State has undertaken, through agencies such as the Women and Child Development Department (WCDD), major initiatives such as allotment of house title deeds to women under government-sponsored, low-income housing programmes. The government has also implemented 30 per cent job reservation for women in all direct recruitments to government and public sector units.
Under the WCDDs Stree Shakti scheme, which was launched in 2000-01, 1.20 lakh self-help groups based on thrift-and-credit principles were formed at the village level through a network of 40,300 Anganwadi workers. There are 17.80 lakh women employed under the scheme; their combined savings amount to Rs.444.91 crore and the total amount provided by banks for the scheme is Rs.496.13 crore.
The State government recently re-launched an insurance scheme, Bhagyalakshmi, for girl children from families living below the poverty line (BPL). Implemented in tandem with the Life Insurance Corporation of India, the scheme will provide financial support for the education, health care and marriage of girl children born after March 31, 2006. Dr. Shalini Rajneesh, Secretary, WCDD, said the scheme would be limited to two girl children of a BPL family. To avail herself of the benefit, a girl child must have her birth certificate with her name on it, and should attend an Anganwadi centre until the age of six and study up to Standard VIII. To receive the insured amount when she is an adult, the girl should not get married before she turns 18.
Under the scheme, the WCDD deposits Rs.10,850 in the name of the girl child. The government has set aside Rs.166 crore for 1.5 lakh children for the financial year 2006-07 . This year, Rs.225 crore has been earmarked for the scheme. Each child covered under the scheme gets health insurance up to a maximum of Rs.25,000 a year and annual scholarships between Rs.300 and Rs.1,000 as she progresses academically. The earning parents life is insured for Rs.1 lakh in case of death by accident and Rs.42,500 in case of natural death. At the end of 18 years, the first beneficiary from a family will be paid Rs.34,751 while the second beneficiary will get Rs.40,918. Dr. Rajneesh said 80,000 bonds had already been issued. The scheme was launched once before in 1996-97, but got mired in administrative problems.
To stop trafficking in women and children, the department has an action plan that envisages wider and specific responsibilities for various government departments. They are required to maintain records of the number of women and children, with details of school-going children; and also whether any of them are missing and, if so, what action has been taken.
Ravi SharmaCOMMents
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