a) whether the National Policy for Empowerment of Women has been able to achieve its objectives and made any impact since its implementation in 2001;
b) if so, the details thereof; and
c) the schemes and programmes drawn as a part of the policy along with the targets fixed and achievements made under each of such scheme/programme so far?
MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
(SHRIMATI MANEKA SANJAY GANDHI)
(a) & (b) The National Policy for Empowerment of Women 2001 has its goal in bringing about advancement, development and empowerment of women in all spheres of life through creation of a more responsive judicial and legal system sensitive to women and mainstreaming a gender perspective in the development process. Since 2001, there have been significant changes with regard to the status and empowerment of women. As a commitment towards fulfilling the larger mandate of women’s empowerment, the Ministry of Women and Child Development was set up in 2006 to implicitly bring the women’s issues into the forefront. Efforts have been made to strengthen the legal judicial system and progressive legislations have been enacted to combat all forms of discrimination and violence against women in India. Policies and programmes in sectors like health, family planning, nutrition, education, employment, legislation and social welfare have been formulated and implemented to improve the status and empowerment of women in India.
(c) There have been several significant schematic interventions as a part of the policy across all sectors to meet higher targets in the field of health, education and employment. A significant increase has been achieved in institutional deliveries since introduction of Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) i.e. from 47% in 2007-08 to 74.4% 2012-13. Progress is also evident with decline in the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) from 212 in 2007-09 to 167 in 2011-13. The Gender Parity Index (GPI) for gross enrolment ratio in primary, upper primary and elementary education has been improving steadily since 2000-01. The percentage of women workers under MNRGES getting 100 days of employment in villages has steadily increased over the years much above the statutory minimum of 33%.
Sustained efforts have been made to strengthen the legal judicial system and progressive legislations have been enacted to counter all forms of discrimination and violence against women in India. The important legislations include the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013, Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. Large numbers of women today are able to exercise their choices by taking recourse to the law as empowerment is all about choices.
The Ministry of Women and Child Development benefits women on a continuous basis through existing schemes such as Swadhar and Short Stay Homes, Working Women Hostels, Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP), Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK), National Mission for Empowerment of Women (NMEW), SABLA and Maternity Benefit Schemes for welfare and empowerment of women. Further, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao was launched in January 2015 to address the issue of declining child sex ratio. Initiatives/Schemes like, Mahila Police volunteers; Reservation of women in police force; creating immediate response mechanisms through Panic Button in mobiles; Platforms such as Mahila E-Haat have been launched to encourage entrepreneurship amongst women; One Stop Centres (OSCs) and Women Helpline schemes for women affected by violence have also been set up in various States/UTs.
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