Drive for Equal Access

'Drive for Equal Access' is the proceeding report of 2014 International Women’s Week National Symposium held in Avinashilingam Deemed University for Women in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. The two-day national level symposium was sponsored by University Grants Commission (UGC), Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), Tamil Nadu State Council for Science and Technology (TNSCST), National Commission for Women (NCW), and Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN). The national symposium was aimed to bring together nationally distinguished gender scholars and achievers, and leading women professionals and policy-makers from diverse sectors - ministries, academia, research and development and science and technology based organizations, NGOs working for women, and industries to share - public opinions, research reports, and case studies. Discourses were initiated under panels based on the five focal themes: 1) Health & Nutrition; 2) Education & Dropout; 3) Skills & Vocational Training; 4) Science & Technology; 5) Full & Decent Employment. Distinguished women scholars and gender experts from diverse fields of interest represented multidimensional voices on cross-cutting issues of women empowerment in the shared space. They expressed public opinions and gave action-oriented recommendations from micro-research and case-studies presented by the participants. The book deals with manifold of needs, concerns, and opportunities for women in Indian society and addresses women’s issues with sensitivity. The five critical women’s issues addressed in the book are: - to reduce malnutrition and improve nutrition and health of girls and women - the status of education and dropout rates for girls and women - the status of need-based and skill-based vocational training programmes for women - participation of girls and women in science and technology - participation of women in gainful employment and women empowerment The book is greatly enriched by the contributions of the nationally eminent resource persons - physician Dr. Rajan Sankar, Country Manager India & Senior Advisor South Asia of Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), nutritionists Dr. G. N. V. Brahmam (Retired Director, National Institute of Nutrition) and Dr. Prema Ramachandran (Director, Nutrition Foundation of India); educationists Prof. Karuna Chanana (Retired Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University) and Prof. Ishita Mukhopadhyay (Director of Women’s Studies Research Centre, Calcutta University); economist Prof. Binod Khadria (Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University) and scientists Prof. Krishna Misra (Past General Secretary, National Academy of Sciences, India - NASI), Dr. M. Vijayalakshmi (Associate Director, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research). Other dignitaries were Prof. Gouri Srivastava (Director of Women’s Studies, National Council for Education, Research and Training), Prof. Chandrika Basu-Majumdar (Director, Women’s Studies Centre, Tripura University), Dr. Jyoti Sharma (Principal Scientist, Department of Science & Technology), Mr. Anoop Satpathy (Fellow, V. V. Giri National Labour Institute), Mrs. Madhvi (Additional CEO, Tamil Nadu Corporation for Development of Women), Ms. Sonia George (General Secretary, Self Employed Women’s Association-SEWA Kerala). The prominent personalities reflected the pressing issues at this juncture: girls’ and women’s needs of and access to nutritional improvement and educational upliftment - their difficulties to health and educational achievement, their potentials and contributions to economic growth, their challenges to participation and decision making, and their roles in women empowerment. They narrated ideas and experiences to inspire public opinions and discussions on girls and women empowerment; and made valid recommendations towards women-friendly policies and practices in India. The book also includes selected micro-research papers contributing to multi-disciplinary approach to transform the ‘life-cycle of women’ by addressing girl’s basic needs of nutrition and education to women’s pertinent need of skills training, drudgery removal, and employment. The book traces debates on gender equality and equity from inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary point of views. It highlights 1) how women can transform her family health through awareness of nutrition; 2) how women can help themselves, their daughters and other women through knowledge and skills, science and technology; and 3) how women can address their economic needs and security and rise up from job-seekers to job-givers. Thus, as national symposium proceedings the book is an important initiative to the holistic understanding and realistic resolution of multi-faceted problems that were collectively explored as being encountered daily by girls and women in Indian society. Importantly the book reinforces that national growth-development would be impossible to achieve without ensuring women’s equality and equity in society. The book is the culmination of the first ever national level assembly of prominent gender specialists across disciplines, sharing scholastic and empirical perspectives on the interrelated themes of the symposium. The national symposium also marked the launch of ‘National Gender Caucus’ – a platform for gender scholars and practitioners to share common interests and act as a think tank and pressure group to improve status of girls and women in India. The book invites readers to join the National Gender Caucus to facilitate networking across scholars, leaders, professionals, industrialists, entrepreneurs, policy makers, media persons, activists, and individuals - to recommend and impact women empowerment in India.