Gender Equality and Rights a Critical Analysis of Present Situation

ABSTRACTGender equality and rights are the one of the basic concepts in Constitution of India, which is assured to all the citizens but, the real scenario is something different than that of what is conceptualized. In the present era though the women in metro/cities have got their right to work, relief from restraints of classical home maker, in general the same old circumstances for women is prevailing. As on January 15, 2015 the female population in India is 615,042,950 (615 Million) in which the 243,293,143 belongs to the age group of 24 to 54 years, does all these women have got equality and rights, answer for the question is still a question. Present paper critically analyzes the position of women in the present era where she is being exploited in the name of home, work, religion etc.KEYWORD: Gender Equality, Human Rights, RightsINTRODUCTION:The origin of the discrimination and unequal position can be traced to Manu in 200 BC: a young girl, by a young woman, or even by an aged one, nothing must be done independent, even in her own house.India is a complex society where no generality could apply to the nation's various social, economic, regional and religious groups. However, the Indian economy is affected by the extensive situations in which Indian women live. A common lifestyle of women is restricted to home with restriction of mobility. Apart from these other unwritten practices place further limitations on women. Throughout the past, women have usually been limited to the role of a home-maker; that of a mother and wife. Despite of major changes that have occurred in the women's position in some parts of the world in recent decades, norms that confine women to the home are quiet powerful in India.In spite of India's reputation for respecting women, including treating her as a Goddess, history reveals that she was also ill-treated. There was no equality between men and women. This is true of ancient, medieval and modern times barring some revolutionary movements such as that of Basaweshwara, the 12th century philosopher in Karnataka, who advocated equality, status for women, casteless society, and betterment of the downtrodden. Reform movements in the 19th and 20th centuries led by great social reformers provided boost to women's legal status in India.The Emergence of Gender IssuesGender has been a central issue' in India since the time immemorial. During the 19th century many reform movements sprouted questioning the status of the women and her position in cultural, social and political space. The recognition of gender as an issue forms the basis for India's women's crusade. In 1974 the Indian government published a report, about Equality, which put status of women forcefully on the national agenda by arguing that the position of Indian women had declined, not improved, since 1911 (Committee on the Status of Women 1974). As a result gender issue became to progress.Data on gender discrimination in nutrition and health, education, employment and inheritance are some of the unbearable issues to overlook. On the other side women have become a target of violence which was widely reported in the media. Some of the heinous incidences like; sexual exploitation, rape in police custody, bride-burning or dowry deaths, sexual harassment in the workplace and on the street etc. Beyond all such eventuality the women's are fighting for their rights and equality from all sorts of exploitation and inequality in the society.Human Rights: Nature and Relevance for IndiaThe concept of human rights incorporates three basic doctrines (Sinha 1981):1. Individualism:Which implies that the individual is the basic unit of society; Human rights speech and its fundamental principle of individualism is based on the assumption of a universal human nature, where each individual is assumed to be an independent, self-sufficient and rational being (Panikkar, 1982). …