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CHAPTER - I INTRODUCTION West Bengal is now the third most populous state in India, with a population density of a little more than 900 persons per square km. The state continues to attract a large number of migrants from neighbouring states as well as neighbouring countries. Its topography is dominated by the alluvial plains of the Ganga and its tributaries, except for the hilly terrain of North Bengal, extending into the Himalayan foothills. During the last few decades West Bengal has recorded high rates of agricultural growth. It also has a strong industrial base which needs to be further strengthened and diversified. Before we begin our detailed review of the situation of women in West Bengal, it would be useful to gain a broader perspective by looking at certain important socio-economic indicators which have been compiled in Tables S 1, S 2 and S 3. The first two Tables depict the position of West Bengal in an all-India context while the third presents a birds eye view of regional variations within the state of West Bengal, based on available district level information. West Bengals population growth rate during 1991-2001 has been 1.8 per cent per year, lower than the all-India annual growth of rate of 2.1 per cent. Similarly, levels of infant mortality, maternal mortality and total fertility are also well below the respective national averages. However, though the states female literacy rate at 60 per cent is appreciably higher than the all-India proportion of 54 per cent, its worker-population ratio for women at 18 per cent is substantially lower than the all-India figure of about 26 per cent. Since 1990 the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been publishing Human Development Reports for a large number of countries, assessing the level of human development achieved by each through the yardstick of the Human Development Index or HDI, which is based on three important indicators : expectation of life at birth, educational attainment and per capita income. The HDR of 1995 introduced two new measures for evaluating the relative situation of women in a given country. The first is the Gender Development Index or the GDI, which is based on the same three indicators as the HDI but are differentiated for women and men, to be converted into a specific score that indicates the extent of gender-based disparities prevailing in a given country. The second is the Gender Empowerment Measure or GEM, which computes the extent to which women participate in economic and political decision making again, on the basis of certain chosen variables. All the three measures - HDI, GDI and GEM - can ideally reach a maximum score or value of 1. A study on state level GEM values in India has placed West Bengal in the 7th position in a list of 16 states. 1 Table S 2 provides estimates o HDI and GDI for different states of India, as computed by the Planning 1 Aasha Kapur Mehta, Recasting Indices for Developing Countries : A Gender Empowerment Measure, Economic and Political Weekly (EPW), 26 October 1996; p. WS-84. (1) Commission of Government of India in its National Human Development Report published in March 2002.2 Table S 2 shows that 27 per cent of the states population (about 213.5 lakh) were reported to be living below the poverty line (BPL) in 2001 - almost at par with the national average - and the average per capita monthly expenditure in the state was estimated at Rs. 572 as against the national average of Rs. 591. Estimates based on National Sample Survey(NSS) findings show that BPL population in rural West Bengal declined from 41 to 32 per cent between 1993-94 (NSS % 50th Round) and 1999- 2000 (NSS 55th Round) while in urban areas it declined from 7.4 per cent to 4.2 per cent3 There is, of course, no gender-disaggregated data on poverty in the standard sources, but it is now being recognised that women usually constitute a majority among the poor. Table S 3 presents district-wise estimates for population living below the poverty line, monthly per capita income and per capita district domestic product at current prices as computed by analysts. It also presents HDI and GDI scores and rankings for each district as computed in the West Bengal Human Development Report published by the Govt. of West Bengal in May 2004. The Child Survival Index has been calculated by the author of our source material by subtracting the relevant district level infant mortality rate from unity (or the score 1) and then using the resultant figure to arrive at the Child Survival Index as per the UNDPs method of computing the HDI. Predictably, Kolkata has the highest scores for all the indices, followed closely by Howrah, Hooghly and Darjeeling. In the following six sections we present gender-based perspectives on (i) Demography. (ii) Health and Nutrition, (iii) Literacy and Education, (iv) Work Participation. (v) Violence and (vi) Empowerment. Wherever possible we attention to inter-district variations within West Bengal.The Annexures contain a brief Cameo of Women in Kolkata, apart from certain documents having a bearing on the situation of women in West Bengal. It will be apparent, as we proceed, that substantial progress has been made towards desired goals. Yet much remains to be done. It is our hope that the emerging realities will provide scope for thought and action towards social advancement with gender equity, so that women of West Bengal can truly stand forth as : Culturally rooted, globally oriented Healthy, educated, self-reliant Secure in her home And safe outside With access To all the rights of a citizen With opportunity To contribute in all walks of life. (Our Vision: National Commission for Women) 2 The indicators used in NHDR are slightly different from those used by UNDP; for example, for computing HDI, NHDR uses life expectation at one year of age together with infant mortality rate instead of life expectancy at birth taken by UNDP. 3 R. Radhakrishnan and others, Chronic Poverty and Malnutrition in 1990s, Economic and Political Weekly (EPW), 10 July 2004, Table 4, p. 3124. (2) Table : S 1 Demographic profile of West Bengal, India and selected states : 1991-2001 State popln. popln. urban Sex Infant Maternal literate population working Population growth Density Popln. Ratio Mortality Mortality % 2001 % 2001 % p.a. sq km % Rate Rate 1991-01 2001 2001 2001 1996 1998 Men Women Men women (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) Assam 1.9 340 19.6 932 74 409 71.9 56.0 49.9 20.8 Andhra Pradesh 1.4 275 27.1 972 65 159 70.9 51.2 56.4 34.9 Bihar 2.8 880 10.5 921 71 452 60.3 35.6 47.7 18.8 Gujarat 2.2 258 37.4 92 61 10 80.5 58.6 55.0 28 Haryana 2.8 477 29.0 861 68 103 79.3 56.3 50.5 27.3 Karnataka 1.7 275 34.0 964 53 195 76.3 57.5 56.9 31.9 Kerala 0.9 819 26.0 1058 14 198 94.2 87.9 50.4 15.3 Madhya Pradesh 2.4 196 26.7 920 97 498 76.8 50.3 51.6 33.1 Maharashtra 2.3 314 42.4 922 48 135 86.3 67.5 53.5 32.6 Orissa 1.6 236 15.0 972 96 97 76 51.0 52.8 24.6 Punjab 2 482 34 874 51 367 75.6 63.6 54.1 18.7 Rajasthan 2.8 165 23.4 922 85 199 76.5 44.3 50.1 33.5 Tamil Nadu 1.1 478 43.9 986 53 76 82.3 64.6 58.1 31.3 Uttar Pradesh 2.6 689 20.8 898 85 707 70.2 43.0 47.3 16.3 West Bengal 1.8 904 28.0 934 55 266 77.6 60.2 54.2 18.1 All-India 2.1 324 27.8 933 72 407 75.6 54.2 51.9 25.7 Note:- Working population is the total of main and marginal workers; maternal mortality rate is per one lakh live births. Source:- Columns 2-5 & 8-11: COI, Provisional Population Tables : 2001. Columns 6 & 7: COI, Men and Women in India2000,Tables 16 & 19(b) (3) Table S 2 : Estimates of poverty, human development and gender disparity : West Bengal, India and selected states: 1991-2001 States Popn. BPL p.c. HDI HDI HDI GDI Gender below persons p.m. score Score rank rank Disparity poverty (lakh) cons- 1991 2001 2001 1991 Index line (%) umption (32 (15 1991 (32 1999- 1999- expendi- states) states) States) 2000 2000 ture (Rs) 1999- 2000 Assam 36.1 94.55 473 0.348 0.386 14 29 0.575 Andhra Pradesh 15.8 119.01 551 0.377 0.416 10 8 0.801 Bihar 42.6 425.64 417 0.308 0.367 15 32 0.469 Gujarat 14.1 67.89 678 0.431 0.479 6 18 0.714 Haryana 8.7 17.34 768 0.443 0.509 5 19 714 Karnataka 20.0 104.40 638 0.412 0.478 7 15 0.753 Kerala 12.7 41.04 817 0.591 0.638 1 4 0.825 Madhya Pradesh 37.4 298.54 479 0.328 0.394 12 25 0.662 Maharashtra 25.0 227.99 697 0.452 0.523 4 9 0.793 Orissa 47.1 169.09 414 0.345 0.404 11 27 0.639 Punjab 6.2 14.49 792 0.411 0.537 2 21 0.710 Rajasthan 15.3 818.3 611 0.347 0.424 9 22 0.692 Tamil Nadu 21.2 130.48 681 0.466 0.531 3 6 0.813 U.P.
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    +- Proceedings of The Regional Workshop on IMPLEMENTATION OF PCPNDT ACT 1994 Organised By Institute Of Development Studies Kolkata Calcutta University Alipore Campus, 5th Floor 1,ReformatoryStreet Kolkata 700 027 At Auditorium, Swasthya Bhaban, GN-29, Sector-V, Salt Lake, Kolkata-700 091 On 1-2 February 2006 Sponsored by: National Commission for Women 1. Background The Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act passed by the Indian Parliament came into force in 1994 for regulation and prevention of misuse of the diagnostic techniques. Subsequently, following a Supreme court order on its proper implementation certain amendments were made to the Act. The declining sex ratio in India particularly in the 0-6 year age group is a matter of grave concern. It was expected that proper implementation of the PCPNDT Act would check the pre-natal sex determination and elimination of the female foetus within the womb at least to some extent. However, although there has been ample time for implementing the Act, there is no sign that the decline in child sex ratio has been halted. Most states have set up the infrastructure prescribed in the Act, but this infrastructure is still to be effective. The problem of decline in sex ratio is very grave in Northern and Western India, particularly in those states that are said to be economically more developed. However, recent studies show that in certain parts of Eastern India too, the phenomenon has been fast catching up. For instance, the metropolitan areas of Kolkata show a steep decline in the sex ratio from 1991 to 2001 as far as the 0-6 year population group is concerned.
  • Bii BHAORA 21, 1913 (SAKA) Hajf-An-Hour Discussion 530 Here

    Bii BHAORA 21, 1913 (SAKA) Hajf-An-Hour Discussion 530 Here

    529 Finance (No.2) BiI BHAORA 21, 1913 (SAKA) HaJf-an-hour Discussion 530 National Commission for women SHRI JASWANT SINGH: PersonaUy I wasting the time of the House. A Jot of this discussed it with some people could be done in the Chamber. Let the HaIf­ here •.• (lntem.ptbns). In fact.lthink it can be an-Hour discussion go on. We have the time that tomorrow before the Private Members' to discuss it and let us discuss it and sort it Business and after the Private Members' out amongst ourselves. And come to a con­ Business, for however long it takes, we sit clusion. Meanwhile, let the time be utilised and finally dispose of the Anance Bill tomor­ for the Half-an-Hour discussion effectively. row itself. The Private Members' Business willbefinished atsixo·cIock.Acertainamount MR.DEPUTY SPEAKER : May t re­ of disposal would take place of speakers quest Shrimati Suseela GopaJan to com­ before the Private Members' Business starts mence her Half-an-Hour discussion? at 3. 30 or 3.45, whatever it is, and after it finishes at six o'clock. It wiD be much neater and tidierto dispose of the Anance Bill in that fashion. That would be my submission. 17_54 hrs. SHRt RANGARAJAN KUMARAMAN­ HALF-AN-HOUR DISCUSSION GALAM: There is also another problem, Sir. H tomorrow we are only going to take the National Commission for Women Finance Bill, then there are other Govern­ ment business also which are slated for (English) tomorrow. Keeping that in mind, we had agreed in the BAC that we have the BCCI discussion on Saturday morning.