This document discusses improving the lives of women in rural communities in India. It notes that women make up a large portion of the agricultural labor force but still face disadvantages in terms of pay, land rights, and representation. Their lack of empowerment can negatively impact their children's education and family health. Several programs and schemes aim to improve access to healthcare for rural women and address issues like malnutrition, disease prevalence, and maternal health. Overall, bettering the lives of rural women will require improving their economic contributions and social status through expanded education, land rights, minimum wages, and poverty alleviation programs along with enhanced access to resources like housing, water, electricity, and healthcare.

1. Improving Life of Women In Rural
community
Presented By: Dr. Abha Sing
Professor & Head
Department of Family Resource Management
College of Home Science NDUAT Kumarganj Faizabad UP

2. Changing Paradigm of women
contribution
• Health
• Hygiene
• Child Care
• Handicrafts
•Women as passive
beneficiaries
•Women’s roles as wives
and mothers
•Assistance to poor women
•Technical expert advice
• Agriculture
• Livestock
• Agro processing
• Agribusiness
• Educated women as
active
participants
•Women’s and men’s
roles as
producers and earners
of
household income

3. Statistical Analysis
In rural India, the percentage of women who depend
on agriculture for their livelihood is as high as 84%.
Women make up about 33% of cultivators and about
47% percent of agricultural laborers.
94% of the female agricultural labor force in crop
cultivation were in cereal production, while 1.4% worked
in vegetable production, and 3.72% were engaged in
fruits, nuts, beverages, and spice crops.
Women also heavily participate in ancillary agricultural
activities. According to the Food and agriculture
organization, Indian women represented a share of 21%
and 24% of all fishers and fish farmers, respectively.

4. Agricultural
activities
Domestic activities
Cooking,
Child rearing,
Household management
etc.
Allied activities
Cattle
management,
Fodder
collection,
Milking etc.
Textile work
Multi-Dimensional role of women

5. In Agriculture
1. Sowing,
2. Transplanting,
3. Weeding,
4. Irrigation,
5. Fertilizer
application,
6. Harvesting,
7. Winnowing,
8. Storing etc.
9. Food Processing

6. Year
Population
(in millions)
Proportion (percent)
0-14(years) 15-59(years)
15-49(years in
females) 60+(years)
2001 1029 35.4 57.7 51.1 6.9
2006 1112 32.1 60.4 53.1 7.5
2011 1193 29.1 62.6 54.5 8.3
2016 1269 26.8 63.7 54.8 9.3
2021 1340 25.1 64.2 54.1 10.7
2026 1400 23.4 64.3 53.3 12.4
Age-wise data on demography of females in India

8. Despite their dominance of the labor
force women in India still face extreme
disadvantage in terms of pay, land rights, and
representation in local farmers organizations.
Furthermore, their lack of empowerment often
results in negative externalities such as lower
educational attainment for their children and
poor familial health.

9. Causes of this Disparity
Gender division of labor
Literacy
Time allocation
Access to land and resources
Male dominating society

10. KEY INDICATORS IN FERTILITY AND CONTRACEPTIVE USE, INDIA
Key Indicator Data source
NFHS(1992-93) NFHS(1998-99) NFHS(2005-06)
Fertility
Total fertility rate 3.4 2.4 2.7
Median age at first birth(years) 19.4 19.3 19.8
Married women with 2 living children
wanting no more children(%)
59.7 72.4 83.2
After 2 sons 71.5 82.7 89.9
After 1 son,1 daughter 66 76.4 88.1
After 2 daughters 36.9 47 62.1
Contraceptive Use(%)
Total 41 48 56
Urban 51 58 64
Rural 37 45 53
Female Sterilization 27.4 34.1 37.3
Male Sterilization 3.5 1.9 1
Source: National Female Health Society,2015

11. Distribution of Live Births by Type of Medical Attention Received by
the Mother-2009 (%)

12. PROGRAMMES and SCHEMES for WOMEN health care in India
The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM):
Primary Health Centres (PHCs):
Community Health Centres (CHCs):
Reproductive Child Health (RCH)
Programme:
Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY):
Family Welfare Linked Health Insurance
Scheme:

14. Impact, Health and Issues
Malnutrition,
Hormonal disbalance,
Diseases prone,
Domestic violence,
Health disorders,
Women Maternity increased rate,
 Gender Discrimination
Ignorance by her partner
Poor hygiene in Rural areas

15. Betterment of Rural Women
Farming Community
Women comprise 43% of the Worlds
Agriculture Labour Force
Indian rural women have
1. Low level of education
2. Formal labour force participation
3. Discrimination
4. Economic Scarcity
They have little autonomy & live under
1. Father’s
2. Husband
3. Son

16. These factors give
negative impact on
 Health Status  Poor health
 Affecting reproductive health - Give birth to low weight
infants.
 Reproductive rights – Less productive in labour force
 Reproductive justice – Less educated and economically
deprived.
 Rural women of India face many serious health issues.
1.Reproductive health. 2. Violence against women.
3. Poor Nutritional status. 4. Unequal treatment of boys and
girls. 5. HIV/AIDS.
Health depends on many host factors – (a) Social, (b)

17. Public Health Care Infrastructure
(a) Community health centre.
(b) Primary health centre.
(c) Rural Hospitals.
(d) Civil Hospitals.
(e) Municipal Hospital
(f) Specific disease Hospitals – (a) T.B. Hospital, (b)
Leprosy Hospital.
(g) Schemes - Central Government Health Scheme
and State Government Health Scheme.

18. Research Show Women’s
Contributions are over looked
1. Regarded as economic burdens.
2. Preferences for sons.
3. High Dowry demand resulting in:
(a) Mistreatment of girls
(b) Low level of education
(c) Depriving rights
(d) Formal labour force participation.

19. Determining key issues for rural
women health
(a) Reproductive health
(b) Nutrition
(c) Women/Female Morbidity
(d) Mortality
(e) Education
(f) Medical
(g) Rights.

20. RESULTS
 The betterment of rural women can be by :
1. Help women improve food production while
allowing them to shift more of their labour to export
production.
2. Changes in legal system must be undertaken in
order to enhance women’s social and economic
contributions to rural development in the long term.
3. Land tenure laws and regulations for women
should be improved.
4. Educational policies and funding must be changed
to reflect the social and economic returns to
women’s primary education and literacy.
5. Concrete poverty alleviation programme for rural
masses.

21. RESULTS
1. Minimum wages to landless labourers.
2. Growth of housing facilities.
3. Introducing self employment schemes in
Horticulture, animal husbandry, weaving and
handicraft and business activities.
4. Improving drinking water facilities, public
distribution system and increasing power
production.
5. Making primary education more effective.
6. Extension of primary health facilities.
7. Holistic Development.

22. THANKS