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Table 3.A.1 (Continued) Strategy
Provisions ■
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Status
Programs and projects focusing on women and girl children. Examples include wage employment programs Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana/National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, livelihood girl fund for girl children [Bhagyalakshmi]); social security programs for women (pensions for widows and old women). Strengthening of entrepreneurial skills of women through self-help groups in income-generating activities.
2. Strategies that target the public administration (boxes PS and NM) Establishing ■ Ministry of Women and Child Development at center, ministries/agencies Department of Women and Child Development at state of gender in level. national and local ■ National Commission on Women. governments ■ Linking women’s empowerment and gender equality issues (“gender to various national policies, such as the National machinery”) Agricultural Policy (2000), the National Policy for the Empowerment of Women (2001), and the National Water Policy (2002), which view women’s self-help groups as important instrument for alleviating gender inequality. ■ National Project for Repair, Renovation, and Restoration of Water Bodies Directly Linked to Agriculture advocates formation of district implementation committees on which representation of women is mandatory. Creating gender focal ■ Interface meetings (open forums) between elected women, women’s groups/collectives, and policy makers/ministers to points in sectoral articulate their concerns and influence policies. ministries and ■ The five-year plans of the Planning Commission define decentralized actions of positive discrimination in favor of women’s departments empowerment (from Eight Five-Year Plan onward).
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Implementation of specific programs for women and children through ministries and departments of women and child development, but limited influence on other ministries/departments (see below). National Commission on Women plays important role in advocacy.
Mainstreaming of gender in sector ministries and departments (such as agricultural or public works departments) limited by lack of gender focal points in such departments. Departments in charge of decentralization and panchayati raj typically very active in promoting gender mainstreaming.