In the post-independence period, there were several initiatives which worked for the emancipation of women. The prominent ones were related to the constitutional provisions and social legislation for women.

The Constitution of India adopted the principle of equality in the Fundamental Rights Resolution of the Karachi Congress. Article 15(3) incorporated such provisions and mandated the state to legislate special measure to promote equality and bring women in par with men.

Government of India undertook various measures that sought to remove the legal disabilities which degraded the position of women. Legal reforms were initiated in Hindu family laws in the 1950s. The reforms sought to give greater rights to Hindu women in marriage, inheritance and guardianship. However, similar changes in the family laws of other communities like Muslims, Christians, Parsis and Jews have not been reformed despite the Directive Principle of State Policy clearly mandating so as to bring uniform laws for all the communities.

Key Organizations :

Two important organizations came up for the rural women. They are Kasturba Memorial Trust and Bharatiya Grameen Mahila Sangh. These organizations were established with an objective of assisting rural women to develop their leadership potential. However, after independence women’s movements lost the vigour and most of them became passive. Many of the organizations received grants for activities like adult education, nutrition programmes, vocational training programmes and family planning programmes.

Shortcomings :

Most of the women’s organizations in the post independence India were urban based under the leadership of educated middle and upper class women. After independence, women withdrew from public life and the debate on women’s issues also lost their vigour.

Women’s Movements in the 1970s :

Resurgence of women’s movements and emergence of new groups and organizations occurred in the late 1970s and the 1980s. After independence in the 1950s and 1960s women’s movements lost their vigour and there begun a slow erosion of concern for women’s issues. Several scholars have talked about the absence of women’s movements in this time period. Women’s movements in 1970s broke out the limited perspective of legislation and education as the main demands and started to take up the issues which concerned women holistically. The issues raised were retrenchment of women in industries especially textiles, lack of maternity benefit to women workers, wage discrimination, inadequate training and discrimination at workplace. Since the women activists who were working with political parties, trade unions, peasants and workers movements did not take up the above issues concerning women, this period saw the emergence of women’s organisations in various parts of the country. These organizations made a serious attempt to organise poor women for change.

Emergence of new organizations :

Anti-price rise movement of 1973-74 was a unified effort of various women’s organizations belonging to various political parties.

The growing economic hardships and failure of major agrarian and industrial worker’s movements led to the emergence of new organizations like Self-Employment Women’s Association (Gujarat), Working Women’s Forum (Tamil Nadu), Sramik Mahila Sangathna (Maharashtra) etc. These organizations took up the issues concerning wages, working conditions, exploitation, health hazards among others.

Approach of the new organizations :

These organisations were not affiliated to political parties or to any trade unions and are called as ‘autonomous women’s organisations’. They shunned the ‘welfare’ approach followed by women’s organizations of previous times and adopted ‘protest polities’ approach which involved mobilising women on specific issues.

Issue based Movements in the 1970s and 1980s :

Many autonomous women’s organisations started to take up issues related to women like dowry, domestic violence, and discrimination at the work place, sexual exploitation, crime and violence against women.

Deforestation and ecological movement :

Chipko movement made many women in the Himalayan region to save trees and prevent contractors from felling them. Disappearance of forests creates create economic hardships to women as along with forests fuel, fodder, fruits, herbs for medicine and other forest produce which give them employment and income also disappears.

Anti-dowry movement :

Sustained campaigns were launched through protest, demonstrations, posters, street plays against dowry deaths. For this purpose, several women’s organizations collectively formed a joint front called “Dahej Virodhi Chetna manch”. Finally, government passed Dowry Prohibition (Amendment) Act, 1984 after making necessary changes to the Dowry Prohibition (Amendment) Act of 1961. However, the only limited the amount to be given as dowry and did not ban dowry.

Anti-Sati movement :

The practice of Sati was abolished through legislation during the British rule. In 1988, a young widow named Roop Kanwar was burned on the funeral pyre of her husband. This resulted in strong protests from women’s organizations. The government responded to the demand by passing Commission of Sati (Prevention) Bill. The act assumes that it is a practice sanctioned by religious custom and it did not punished those who raised money by selling photographs and raising donations in the name of so called ‘sati’.

Anti-rape movement :

Several women’s organizations protested to review the rape laws as they were not effective in punishing the culprits. These protests led to the passage of Criminal Law (Amendment) Act in 1983.

Women’s movements of 1990s and afterwards :

Women’s movements of 1990s included the issue of communalism and globalisation and pursued them at the national and international level. With the beginning of 21^st century, women’s organizations began to evolve new methods of resistance and mobilisation in addition to the former methods of protest. Organizations throughout the country linked together through networks on different issues and campaigns.

Women’s Educational and economic status :

Towards Equality Report

In 1974, the report of the Committee on the Status of Women in India titled “Towards equality” is significant in the debate on women’s issues in India. The findings of the Committee provided evidence for the decline in women’s employment owing to technological changes and biases on the part of the employers. The Committee was of the view that all the stakeholders like government, employers and trade unions viewed women as primary homemakers and not as the bread winners. It highlighted the neglect of women’s economic roles who work for the survival of the family. When they work as wage labourers they earn fewer wages than men. To correct this inequality government passed the Equal Remuneration Act (1976). However, this legislation remains ineffective.

Political Representation of Women :

Although several women leaders became governors, chief ministers, cabinet ministers, women remains to be underrepresented at various levels of political leadership. In this context, the women’s organisations in the 1950s and 1960s lacked the efforts to reach to the masses and were unable to mobilise ordinary women and issues that concerned them. This remains as one of the weaknesses in the political strategies adopted by women’s organizations.

The 73^rd and 74 the amendments to the Constitution tried to address the underrepresentation of women in local governance by reserving 33.33% for women at the Panchayat level.

Emerging Trends :

As opposed to the largely urban characteristic of the early women movements which were run by urban educated women, several grassroots organisations working for the upliftment of poor rural and urban women, tribal, self employed women has come up to fight against all forms of oppression, injustice and exploitation. Major regional and national parties and trade unions have also set up women’s wings.

Government’s response :

In the late 1970s, government started to create women’s cells within a few ministries like Rural Development, Labour and Human Resource Development to address the issues pertaining to women. In the late 1980s, government came up with a National perspective Plan for Women (1988-2000). This national plan made several recommendations pertaining to legal, economic, social and political status of women. The government also appointed a National Commission on self-employed women to look into the issues concerning women employed in informal sector who do not get protection from Labour Laws like maternity benefits, childcare facilities, equal wages etc.

The 73^rd and 74^th amendment to the Constitution which was passed in 1993 provides for 33.33% reservation in panchayats, panchayat samitis, zilla parishads and local body institutions.

The government also constituted the National Commission for Women in 1992 to look into the issues concerning women’s rights and promotion of their empowerment. It is a statutory body tasked to provide advice to the government on women’s issues.