Lok Sabha Question No. 5000 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-31
Subject: International Women’s Day
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Ravindra Kushawaha

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5000

TO BE ANSWERED ON 31.03.2023

## INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

## 5000:  SHRI RAVINDRA KUSHWAHA

Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be please to state:

- (a) whether the Government has observed International Women's Day recently;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  theme  of  the  event  and  initiatives undertaken by the Government to make the event successful;
- (c) the  number  of  programmes  organized  and  expenditure  incurred  for  this purpose;
- (d) the steps taken/being taken by the Government  to  end all forms of discrimination against women and girls in the country; and
- (e) the total number of single women in the country as per Census 2011?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER FOR WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a) to (c): The International Women's Day this year has been celebrated throughout the country with great zeal and fervor.  On this occasion, several programmes, events, functions, quizzes were organized by various Central and State Government as well as other organizations. The theme of International  Women's  Day  2023 is #EmbraceEquity. The Ministry of Women and Child Development does not maintain the data of expenditure incurred by various authorities on celebration International Women's Day.

(d)       The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Constitution of India. The Constitution of India not only provides for equality but also empowers the State to make positive discrimination in favour of women and children. The Directive Principles of the State Policy and the Fundamental Duties cast obligation on State as well as citizens  to  remove  discrimination  renounce  derogatory  practices  and  uphold  the dignity  of  women.   In  line  with  the  principles  enshrined  in  the  Constitution,  the Government has taken several steps to end all forms of discrimination against women and girls in the country through legislative framework, schematic interventions and policies/ programmes/ schemes. The vibrant Indian Judiciary also plays an important role in protecting the rights and entitlements of women and girls.

Several legislations for example 'the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955', 'the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 (subsumed under Code on Wages, 2019)' and 'the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition  and  Redressal)  Act, 2013', 'the Indian Penal Code', 'the Criminal Law Amendments of 2013 and 2018', 'the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961', 'the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act,  2005',  'the  Prohibition  of  Child  Marriage  Act,  2006',  'the  Muslim  Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019', three Labour Codes of 2020 etc. already exist to further strengthen this framework.

Moreover, in order to ensure that the marital status of a woman does not subject her to any form of discrimination or hardship, or have a bearing on access to services, the Passport rules have been amended in favour of single mothers. Now either the mother or the father's name can be provided in the passport application form and there is no requirement to provide the certificate of marriage/divorce during application anymore. Earlier, providing the father's name in the PAN application forms was mandatory. The said  rule  has  been  suitably  amended  to  the  effect  that  in  PAN  application  forms, mentioning the father's name is no longer mandatory for a person whose mother was a single parent and PAN has been applied by furnishing the name of the mother only.

As a measure for improving the girl child sex ratio, the Government of India launched the ' Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme'. The scheme is a convergent effort to prevent gender-biased sex selective elimination, ensure the survival and protection of the girl child, and to ensure her education, with an overall aim of increasing the child sex ratio. To assist the  women in  distress, the  Government has   is  setting  up  of  'One  Stop Centers'  (OSCs)  across  the  country  with  the  objective  of  facilitating  access  to  an integrated range of services including medical aid, police assistance, legal aid/case management, psychosocial counselling, and temporary support services to women affected by violence.

Access to sanitation is a matter of dignity. To curb the problem of open defecation in India  which  affects  the  health  and  safety  of  women  the  most,  the  Government launched the Swachh Bharat Mission. Under this initiative over 11.6 crore individual household toilets have been constructed. Similarly, the schemes like Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, Stand-up India, Start-up India, Skill India,  Digital  India  are  promoting  the  financial  and  digital  inclusion  and  economic empowerment of women. There are several other schemes implemented by various Central  Ministries/  Departments  for  promoting  social,  educational,  economic  and political empowerment of women.

As per Census of India 2011, there are over 26.8 million persons with disabilities in India,  constituting  2.21%  of  the  population.  Among  these,  around  11.8  million  are women. The National Policy for Persons with Disabilities, 2006, endorses the need to focus special attention on the needs of differently-abled women. Recognizing the need of differently-abled mothers of additional support, the Policy envisages giving financial support to such women so that they may hire services to look after their children. The Government of India introduced the Rights of Persons with Disability Act, 2016, which implores government and local authorities to take measures to ensure that women and children with disabilities enjoy their rights equally with others.

(e)        As per Census 2011, the number of widowed women is 4,32,61,478, number of separated women is 23,72,754 & number of divorced women is 9,09,573.

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