Women’s Rights in India: A Study with Special Reference to Gender Justice at Workplace

Abstract

Women rights have always been serious issues around the globe. Traditionally then women were confined to house works and conception of their rights was limited. However with growing urbanisation and women’s participation in every strata of society has paved the way for their equal treatment in all aspects. Women in India have been considered as an embodiment of all virtues, and thus she is worshiped and praised as a goddess in the Indian society. However the position and status of the women did not improve further with the passage of time. Many decades hence, women in India continue to struggle for basic rights such as minimum wages, equal wages and property rights, in spite of several protective legislations. Women’s access to resources such as land, credit, skill training and education, in particular, is relatively poor, while they still carry the burden of a “double shift‟ at home cooking, cleaning, and caring for the young and the old, adversely impacting their abilities to contribute effectively in the labour market. Another prominent issue is discrimination of women at the workplace. Women workers are paid discriminating differential wages for the same work. The findings of the present study reveal that in spite of several legislations and policies towards employment generation especially female oriented employment programmes and schemes, work participation rate in general and especially for females is still very less. Gender bias is very high in employment. Participation in economic activity in the form of employment is very important for the development of individual in person and for the nation as a whole.