Women and men share many aspects of living together; they collaborate with each other in complex and ubiquitous ways. Yet they end up with different rewards and deprivations. Women, despite being playing a very important role in building up a society, are still striving for being treated less than equal. They play physically demanding roles. However, they are deprived of access to basic services. Moreover, they are regarded as the “second sex” as they undergo many challenges and hardships within families as well as in societies. Asymmetry and inequity are unfortunately a fact of life for women despite their unquantifiable contribution towards refining a society.
According to National Family Health Survey -2 (1998-99), among the female respondents, 84.1% decide what items to cook. But when it comes to obtaining health care, only 32.1% participate in making decision with their husbands. The United Nations Development Pogramme in 2010 through its Human Development Report identified that women’s lack of power and voice are the main reasons behind gender inequality in South Asia. It has been estimated that the global loss in economic growth due to gender inequality was fifty-six per cent, mostly concentrated in South Asia, Sub-Saharan, Africa and the Arab States. The loss in South Asia was estimated to be two times higher than that of developed countries such as UK, Germany, Japan, Australia, etc. Among the South Asian nations, the poorly performing countries were Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
Despite being lesser privileged, women have significantly contributed towards human development, particularly in raising income, taking care of the households and improving health. Women play a very important role in improving human development and, at the same time, improvement in human development enhances the welfare and status of women. Therefore, women and human development are closely related subjects.
Women affix many benefits in the family and the society such as improvement in the standards of hygiene, reduction in infant and child mortality rates and raising income levels. Women’s contribution, particularly women education, plays significant role in improvement in infant survival and nutrition which ultimately enhances human development. It improves health due to behavioural pattern of women income, knowledge and control within the household. When these variables are added, social expenditure has become lesser significant on improvement in health as female education has greater impact on it.
A study by Ranis and others (2005) has shown that increase in 1% of female primary gross enrolment rate is estimated to reduce the life expectancy shortfall by 0.1%. Another research by Kingdom and Theopold (2008) concluded that higher economic returns had a positive substitution effect for girls, while the negative income effect was stronger for boys in poorer households in India. The fact is that girls’ education was substituted by household work while boys participated in economic activity and earned supplementary incomes for the household.
There is no open discrimination against women in the Naga society. But it is an undeniable fact that the gap between the genders still persists. In one of the interviews by this writer, a village leader was asked whether he cooks, where he responded “No”. Then, he was asked if he fetches water, he said “No” and he was asked again, if he mops rooms, he responded with an irate face saying, “Don’t ask what you are not supposed to ask, this is insulting”. This indicates that household activities are not men’s job.
In Nagaland, it is found through research that stringent patriarchal system and biased attitude against women are observed to be more severe in rural areas. The main factors are law of inheritance drawbacks, wage discrimination, ‘men are men’ attitude, domestic tasks assignments, etc. The gender disparities in education (literacy rate & enrolment ratio) and health (Infant Mortality Rate - IMR) are found to be declining but in economic workforce participation it is found to be widening (0.13% per annum during 1981-2011). Alfred Marshall’s research pointing out to “invisible hand” of women is still valid in the Naga society as women’s works which are fundamental for keeping family members physically healthy and creating congenial atmosphere for education have been least acknowledged.
Further, as far as Nagaland is concerned, this writer through research discovered that there is a strong regression coefficient of female literacy rate on income and health. It has been found that 1% increase in the female literacy rate has a great positive impact on Per Capita Income, as sure as by 7.25%. It has also been proven that the same female literacy rate has reduced IMR by 8.95%.
In such a situation, female education needs to be given importance; not only in primary education, but also in higher education and in providing skills and vocational trainings that can create employment avenues other than household chores. Studies have shown that short-term training courses and awareness programmes for women especially on sanitation, child care, nutrition and health particularly to the remotest rural villages will bear positive impact on human development.
Further, this writer has observed that in the Naga society, both men and women should be given equal space in policy formulation in the family as well as in the society - such as on education, economy, etc., so that the policy intervention will be more effective for enhancing human development as well as in tackling gender sensitivity issues. It has also been found that the patriarchal and attitudinal bias against women in the family and the society must be corrected. Also it is imperative to include gender issues and concern in the curriculum in the formal institutional set ups.
Mahatma Gandhi once stated, “You educate a man and you educate an individual; you educate a woman and you educate a family.” It may also be noted that the erstwhile Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru asserted, “To awaken the people it is the women who must be awakened, once she is on the move, the family moves, the village moves and the nation moves.”
Dr. Yelhi Vero Duncan Basti, Dimapur.
