STATUS OF WOMEN IN KERALA

Saravana Selvi C 1 and Dr. K. S. Pushpa 2 . 1. Ph.D Scholar, Dept. of Home Science, Gandhigram Rural Institute-Gandhigram. 2. Professor, Dept. of Home Science, Gandhigram Rural Institute-Gandhigram. ...................................................................................................................... Manuscript Info Abstract ......................... ........................................................................ Manuscript History


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Empowerment is a continuous process of realizing the goals of equality, human liberation and freedom. Women's empowerment implies equality of opportunity and equity between the genders, ethnic groups, social classes and age groups, collective participation in different spheres of life etc. The major landmark in the field of women empowerment was brought about by 73 rd and 74 th amendments in the first half of the 90's in which 33% reservation to the women in the Panchayats and Municipalities was made mandatory. (Economic Review, 2012) The Gender Inequality Index (GII) is the latest index for measurement of gender disparity which was introduced by UNDP in Human Development Report, 2010. Gender inequalities in three important aspects of human development are measured by this index. The three aspects are 1) reproductive health (which is measured by maternal mortality ratio and adolescent birth rates), 2) empowerment (measured by proportion of parliamentary seats occupied by females and proportion of adult females and males with secondary education) and 3) economic status expressed as labour market participation. The GII of 155 countries has been calculated and according to the value of GII, these 155 countries have been ranked. India"s rank in Gender Inequality Index is 130 and the GII value of India is 0.563 while that of top ten countries is below 0.05. The indicators "highlight areas in need of critical policy intervention and it stimulates proactive thinking and public policy to overcome systematic disadvantages of women" (Human Development Report, 2015).
Among the Indian states, Kerala is known for its impressive human development achievements. With regard to the GII components, the indicators of maternal mortality rate, adolescent birth rates and proportion of adult females with secondary education are impressive in Kerala. But the indicators of labour market participation and proportion of parliamentary seats occupied by females show that, Kerala"s performance is poor and is below all India average. Hence, a paradoxical situation of high achievements and equality in health and education dimensions with poor performance and inequality in terms of economic and political participation exists in the State.
Sex Ratio:-Women constitute 52% of the state"s population. The overall sex ratio of Kerala is 1084 females per 1000 males. Sex ratio is one of the most important social parameter indicating the balance between males and females in the society. The overall sex ratio in Kerala continues to be favourable to women, being 1084 compared to 940 for the country as a whole. Further, the overall sex ratio is favourable to females in all the districts of Kerala. (Census, 2011) Figure 1:   In the case of education, enrolment is universal at the primary level and gender parity has been achieved. Girl students constitute 49.4 % of total student enrolment in schools, showing more or less uniformity. Girls outnumbered boys in terms of enrolment in higher secondary education at 52.73%. Dropout rates are low for both boys and girls. At the tertiary level also, the enrolment of girls is higher than boys. For example, girls constitute 68.66 percent of total enrolment for degree courses in various Arts & Science colleges under the four general universities in Kerala during 2014-15. When Post Graduation is considered, the girls" position is highest with 75.54%. Hence, girls are well off in terms of education in Kerala. But when the intake of girls in engineering colleges and polytechnics is considered, the situation is different. Out of the total enrolled students, girls constitute only 40.23% in engineering colleges and 32.76% in polytechnics.

Health Status of Women in Kerala:-
Most of the health indicators in Kerala are highly favourable to women. Life Expectancy at birth of women in Kerala at 76.9 years is the best in India. It is much higher than the national average at 67.7 years. As per the figures released by Registrar General of India in Dec 2013, the Maternal Mortality Rate for India in the period 2010-12 was 178 per 1,00,000 live births. Corresponding figure for Kerala is much lower at 66 per 1, 00,000 live births. Women's Participation in Employment:-Women of Kerala outperform their counterparts in many developmental indicators. But in the case of economically active persons, the indicator is not favourable to women. In countries with high human development, the share of economically active women seems to be high. Labour Participation Rate (LPR) of women in 10 countries having highest Human Development Index is around 60 and that of men is around 70 (Human Development Report, 2015). But as per the 68th Round of NSSO, a wide gap between male and female LPRs. is seen in the State. The female LPR in Kerala is 35.4 and that of male is 82.4. Consequently the difference between Male and Female LPR in Kerala is very high.
As per Census 2011, the FWPR of the state has increased by 2.8 points in the last decade. Four districts of the State namely: Kannur, Kozhikode, Malappuram and Pathanamthitta have FWPR which is lower than that of the State as a whole. Moreover, the performance of Kozhikode and Malappuram is too poor. Two districts, namely Wayanad and Idukki have FWPR which is higher than the all-India rate. Idukki has the highest FWPR in the State as the women in the rural sector of the agrarian district are more economically active.
It is surprising to note that Female LPR is much higher in some of our neighbouring countries, whose HDI rank is lower than that of India. For example Female LPR in Bhutan is 66.4, in Cambodia is 78.9, in Bangladesh is 57.3, in Nepal is 54.3, and in Myanmar is 85.7(Human Development Report 2014). It is often argued that, it may not be possible to increase the LPR of a country beyond a particular level due to various educational and family commitments of persons. So a very high FLPR of this kind may not be feasible. However, it cannot be ignored that less women in labour force means under-utilization of human resources that holds back productivity and economic growth.
Likewise, when we consider the Work Participation Rate (WPR) of women in Kerala, it is lower than that of many states in India as well as all India average. According to Census 2011, the average WPR is 25.21 in India and that of Kerala is only 18.23. A comparison of FWPR in Kerala and India as well as WPR of males and females in Kerala is shown in Figure 2. The FWPR of Kerala is one of the lowest in the country, and far below the national level.

Female Work Participation Rates in India and Kerala:-
Moreover, WPR of females in Kerala is much lower than that of males. FWPR has been increasing in India and Kerala, but the growth of FWPR in Kerala is very slow. Kerala stands first in human development among the Indian states. But the wide gender gap in the WPR pulls down our gender equality in human development.

Work Participation Rates of Males and Females in Kerala:-
Himachal Pradesh with a female workforce participation rate of 44.82 is the best performer. It is surprising that the North-eastern states like Nagaland, Sikkim, Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya have higher FWPR than Kerala (NSSO Report, 68th Round). Hence it is high time to have a relook at our strategies in this direction and perhaps learn from experiences elsewhere.
Role of self employment in enhancing the share of economically active women is very important in a state like Kerala where the educational level of women is very high. Surprisingly, even with a large number of opportunities for self employment, the share of female self employed workers seems to be significantly lower in Kerala than many other states in India. The percentage of female self employed workers (FSEW) in Kerala is 36.4 in rural area and that in urban area is 36.3. But in rural areas, percentage of FSEW is 89.5 in Arunachal Pradesh, 87.9 in Himachal Pradesh, 94.9 in Nagaland and 90.2 in Sikkim. In all these North Eastern states, FWPR is above 35% (NSSO Report, 68th Round).

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Gender disaggregated data on employment can capture a clearer picture of women"s economic empowerment. The sectoral distribution of employment of women in Kerala presents in figure 2 shows that women are more engaged in agriculture but more males are engaged in service and industry.

Figure 2:-
Source: NSSO Report, 68th Round It is clear that women"s participation in traditional industries is very high in which wage/ remuneration is comparatively low. For eg., among cashew workers and beedi workers, women constitute 95% and 99% respectively.

Inequality in Wage Rates:-
Women are engaged in agricultural work as well as in traditional industries (which are mainly coming under informal and unorganized sector) in India as well as in the State (Census, 2011). But in terms of wages and remuneration, significant gender inequality exists in the unorganized sector. Table 4 shows average daily wage rates in agricultural occupations in the State in comparison to all India. Though, the wage rates of women in Kerala are higher than that in other states and all India average, it is much lower than that of males. For Gender Development to be effective, the women of Kerala should be empowered economically and socially. Economic empowerment and social empowerment are complementary to each other. The economic empowerment of the women is attained only when they become an integral part of labour force and ultimately be gainfully employed. However the accomplishment of the State with respect to women"s representation in the Central and State Legislative bodies is poor. The same is the case when we take women in India as a whole. It is quite surprising that the women"s status in the State in this regard is lower than that of many states in India and all India average. (Economic Review, 2013)  Crimes against Women:-As per the figures brought out by the State Crime Records Bureau, the total reported cases of crime against women for the year 2015(upto September) is 9344 which registers a decline from 10690 in 2014. It is surprising that "cruelty by husband/relatives" still constitutes a major component in crime against women. As per data from National Crime Records Bureau, Kerala is a state where "Rate of total cognizable Crimes" (incidence of crime per one lakh female population) is much higher than the national level. Even when we want women to come out of their homes and take up employment, the insecurities within the family remains. Greater efforts are required in this direction, to enable women to take up meaningful economic activities outside the purview of their families. The scheme is to support the unemployed widows, deserted/legally divorced/unmarried women and unwed mothers by providing financial assistance for self employment. 50% of the project cost is subsidized and remaining 50% is disbursed by way of interest free loan. The application for this purpose is collected by the District Employment Officer.

Women in Political Leadership
Seethalayam:-Women Heath Care Centre 1732 The Scheme provides Homeopathic aid for suffering women. It provides Out Patient services, IEC activities etc. to the needy. It is a comprehensive approach for women development. Besides treatment it combines the activities of other supporting departments for women development like Social Welfare Department, State Women Commission, Home Department etc. It provides infertility clinic services and de-addiction treatment facilities.

Medical Care for Victims of Violence/Social Abuse:-
The scheme provides counselling support to the victims besides medical treatment for physical injury, if any. This scheme functions at General Hospitals and in almost all district hospitals. (Economic Review,2012) Conclusion:-Women in Kerala are a valuable, healthy and educated resource; and can contribute effectively in all aspects of development of the state. An attitudinal change can be brought about by highlighting successful endeavours of women and by providing support systems for the multiple tasks they take up. Through this paper it concluded that as the women have equal participation in human development. She is half of the human race. But she lack in society. Women are not treated with respect as in the ancient Indian society. Lot of crime against women is seen in modern society. Constitutional provisions are not sufficient to get the respectable position in society. Many new tribunals and public institutions are to be establishing to guarantee women effective protection against discrimination. Kerala women have mastered anything and everything which a woman can dream of. But she still has to go a long way to achieve equal status in the minds of men.