Dr Bilal A Dar
In all civilizations, women have been playing their role to assist their families. Since the beginning of time, woman has been indulged in development of society in one way or the other while talking about women empowerment, common perception is that this phenomenon benefits the women only. Whereas, the beneficiaries of women empowerment are all; including men, women, and society.Ever-increasing responsibilities and lesser opportunities along with narrow or no exposure have always been a great challenge for Kashmir women. Like men, women are also entitled to live with dignity and require freedom to spend fear-free and contented life. The issue of women empowerment in Kashmir has always been of supreme importance to opinion leaders, reformers, social analysts and political thinkers.
Women are held responsible for doing all home chores, upbringing kids and feed families. In rural areas of Kashmir, women work side-by-side with men. They do home chores, farming, harvesting etc; and in urban areas they do office jobs and once back from the job they take care of their family and home. In spite of all this, most of the times their efforts and struggle are taken for granted. To be treated with respect is every woman’s fundamental right. It’s also her right to be cherished for all the efforts she makes for her family and to boost up the economy. But, majority of women are deprived of this right as well. Women empowerment can play marvelous role in the economic development of Kashmir and that’s not possible without women employment. Today’s women are educated, confident and willing to work. Just a slight motivation, support and resources can make them do wonders. It’s time to recognize that enhanced women participation in modern society is mandatory in order to ensure prosperous economy.
Unfortunately, women in State are suppressed and considered inferior in many regards. Conventional system hardly allows them to flourish, fight and stand for their rights. Women empowerment calls for inevitable change in conventional system. The need of the hour is to provide women with harassment-free workplaces and business environment that supports and welcomes them to improve their wellbeing. In developed societies, women are highly literate, hold executive positions, are well aware of their rights and thus they relish recognition, high social status and a luxurious life. Perhaps, in Kashmir only a small percentage of women have access to all these things. However, ensuring the incorporation of women’s talents, skills and potential requires intentional actions, rational and deliberate policies across all sectors. Political and social support, high literacy rate, better infrastructure, access to resources, exposure to opportunities and sincerity of ruling class is must for ensuring women empowerment and consequently sustainable economic development in Kashmir. In order to achieve sustainable growth and development of the society, education of women is the key. But in a state where more than half of the population living in rural areas, access to educational opportunities is limited. Moreover, poverty puts the girl child at a greater disadvantage. By investing in women and their education, we will, in fact, investing in our present and in our future. It is important to empower women with the knowledge, skill and self-confidence necessary to participate fully in the development process.
Conclusion: Women’s empowerment is a complex process having multiple dimensions which are economic, social, cultural and political. There are three important areas which need to be changed for women’s economic empowerment — women’s right to choose how they want to pursue their livelihoods, making opportunities available for women, and giving women the space to voice themselves. These changes will lead them to explore their full potential. Women can equally participate and excel in both the traditional and non-traditional sectors in State. There is a need for social awareness at household and community levels, to encourage the involvement of men in household care work and garner support for women’s participation in markets.
(The author a research scholar at the School Of Business and Management at Jaipur National University Jaipur. Views are his own [email protected])
