It is nice and it is about women in social science and sati system is also there in this and women in Indian Society

2. In nineteenth century, in India, there were some evil social customs
and practices which went against the interests of certain sections of
population, especially women and lower caste. Social evils such as
polygamy, female infanticide, child marriage and sati, made the lives
of women miserable. Most women were also denied formal
education.

3. Opposition to the practice of sati by British
Christian evangelists, such as William Carey,
and Hindu reformers such as Ram Mohan Roy,
ultimately led the British Governor-General of
India Lord William Bentinck to enact the
Bengal Sati Regulation, 1829, declaring the
practice of burning or burying alive of Hindu
widows. The ancient Hindu tradition called sati,
wherein a widow would throw herself on her
husband's pyre and burn to death, was initially
a voluntary act considered courageous and
heroic, but it later became a forced practice.

4. History has witnessed the burning or burying of widows with their deceased
husbands in various places of the world including India. However, the Sati system
which was prevalent in India was highly debated time and again as this tradition
displayed two contradictory pictures of a woman’s position under the Hindu tradition.
On one hand, Sati was portrayed as a cultural opportunity given to a woman to pursue
the highest cultural and religious accomplishment within the society. While on the
other hand this tradition portrayed cultural barbarism and oppression of women. In
India the tradition was highly prevalent among the Brahmins of Bengal, theRajputs of
Rajasthan and the Deorala in the Sikar district.
CONTD.

5. Various campaigns were initiated against the Sati practice by various Christian
missionaries. However, Raja Ram Mohan Roy is said to be the man behind the
abolition of this social evil. In the year 1829 Sati was banned for the first time by
the Bengal Provincial government which was later on followed by other provinces
and princely states. Queen Victoria in the year 1861 imposed a general ban on the
Sati practice in India.
Presently The Commission of Sati Prevention Act, 1987 is in force. This Act seeks
to prevent the Sati Practice within the territory of India. The Act prohibits the
forced as well as voluntary burning or burying alive of a widow and also prohibits
the glorification of Sati.
CONTD.

6. There was a time when in India women were considered as the door to hell.
Women were suppressed in every aspect of human life. Even in the regime of East
India Company this type of stereotyping continues but Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
was against all types of rotten customs related to women. He works hard to start
the culture of widow remarriage in the country.
The enactment of The Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856 was a major social
reform to improve the condition of the widow in India. Before this law, the custom
of Sati was also abolished by the Lord William Bentinck in 1829.

7. In some parts of India, the widows have to live life like a saint. They were
not allowed to live like a common person. They were expected to lead a
life of austerity and extremities like no makeup, no new clothes, no good
food, a boycott from festivals and even scolding from all members of the
family and society. Widows had to wear a white Saree of coarse material.
The widow was considered as the unlucky person for the whole family.
This Act, also known as Act XV, 1856 legalised the remarriage of Hindu
widows in all the regions which came under the jurisdiction of the East
India Company.
The Governor-General of India at that time was Lord Canning. The act
was enacted due to the tireless efforts of social reformer Ishwar Chandra
Vidyasagar
CONTD.

8. Key Provisions and Facts of the Hindu Widows'
Remarriage Act, 1856;
1. At the time of implementation of this Widow
Remarriage Act 1856; the Governor-General of
India was Lord Canning.
2. The Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856
legalised the remarriage of Hindu widows. This
custom was mainly practiced in rich Hindu
families. One surprising fact is that; Widow
remarriage was prevalent among people of the
lower class or poor.
3. As per the law: “No marriage contracted
between Hindus shall be invalid, and the issue of
no such marriage shall be illegitimate, by reason
of the woman having been previously married or
betrothed to another person who was dead at the
time of such marriage, any custom and any
interpretation of Hindu Law to the contrary
notwithstanding.”
4. The act also provided legal safeguards and
protection to men who married widows.
5. As per The Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act,
1856; the widow was authorized to forfeit any
inheritance that she may have obtained from her
deceased husband.
6. The Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856 also
provided all the rights and inheritances to all the
windows that they have had at the time of her
first marriage.
7. After the enactment of the Hindu Widows'
Remarriage Act, 1856; the first marriage took
place on 7th December 1856 in north Calcutta.
The groom was the son of Ishwar Chandra’s close
friend.

9. An Act to restrain the solemnisation of child marriage. This Act may be called the Child
Marriage Restraint Act, (1929). It extends to the whole of India (except the State of Jammu
and Kashmir) and it applies also to all citizen of India without and beyond India. It shall
come into force on the 1st day of April, 1930.
The Child Marriage Restraint Act was the first social reform issue which was taken up by
the organized women in India. They played a major role in the development of argument
and actively used the device of political petition and in the process contributed in the field
of politics.
The all-India women's association pressured politicians for their support in the bill,
standing outside their delegations holding placards and shouting slogans such as 'if you
oppose Sharda's bill, the world will laugh at you'. It was also this group who pushed for, and
eventually succeeded in having Gandhi address the evils of child marriage in his speeches.
Victory for the bill can be credited to the women's association, who presented the act as a
means for India to demonstrate its commitment to modernity. Declaring they would begin
to make their own laws, free of male influence, the women's organization brought liberal
feminism to a forefront.

10. CHILD MARRIAGE IS A BANE IN
INDIA
The issue of child marriage has always been an alarming
one. Though it has minimized with the passage of time, but
still, it exists on a large scale in the remote areas.
Child marriages have existed in India from
the times of the
Delhi Sultanate when the monarchy system
was prevalent.
It was also used as a weapon to protect girls from
rapes
and abduction by foreign rulers.
We are now free from
the reign of the foreign rulers but
could not make our nation free from
the trap of this curse.
The sweet little minds, who do not even know the names of
their partners and have no idea about all the
responsibilities; are made to remember chores.

11. Female education is a catch-all term of a complex set of issues
and debates surrounding education (primary education,
secondary education, tertiary education, and health education in
particular) for girls and women. It is frequently called
girl's education or women's education. It includes areas of gender
equality and access to education. The education of women and
girls is important connection to the alleviation of poverty. Broader
related topics include single-sex education and religious education
for women, in which education is divided gender lines.

12. Women and girls in the developing world are often
denied opportunities for education. Lack of education
limits prospects, decreases family income, reduces
health, puts women and girls at risk of trafficking and
exploitation, and limits the economic advancement of
entire countries.
World Education believes that education for girls and
women is the single most effective way to improve the
lives of individual families as well as to bring
economic development to poor communities
worldwide.

13. World Education has a long history of successfully working with
local partners to design, manage, and evaluate community-based
initiatives to advance the conditions of girls and women. World
Education's programs help girls enroll and stay in school and help
women gain access to or create new educational, financial, and
social resources in their communities. World Education is also
committed to empowering girls and women to improve their own
lives, the lives of their families, and the conditions in their
communities. For parents—and especially mothers—this means
creating conditions that ensure their daughters have equal access
to basic education, are able to make informed decisions about their
futures, and are able to protect themselves from trafficking, sexual
exploitation, and HIV, for example.

14. A person who is concerned about mankind and humanity above
anything else and wants to change the existing state of things for
the betterment of society is a social reformer. Those people who
have done major pleasant changes in Indian society for
development and stopping discrimination known as Social
reformers of India.
Also, a person who has an enlightened thought process, who
cannot stand the suffering of the weaker section of people, and
above all one who believes in the duty given leave the earth
behind him as a better place than it was. Social reformers are
ordinary humans that want to serve the cause of humanity
extraordinarily.

15. India is fortunate to have many extraordinary
humans who have devoted their lives for the
better of the society and the upliftment of the
downtrodden. A few among them are:
1. JYOTIBA PUHLE
2. VINOBA BEHAVE
3. MOTHER TERESA
4. ANNE BESANT
5. DR. BHIMRAO AMBEDKAR
6. MAHTAMA GANDHI
7. VIVEKANANDA

16. Indian women have always been an epitome of beauty,
strength, and intelligence. Today, the success of Indian
women across various walks of life has proven that
they have earned this reputation very deservingly. If
you look deeper you will realise that one of the major
contributors to the Indian society have been the active
participation of some very focused and dedicated
women. The women activists have played a significant
role in changing many social evils and have been a
shining beacon of hope. Some of them have displayed
exemplary devotion in their respective fields.

17. Aruna Roy is best known for her efforts to
fight corruption and promote government
transparency. Her parents have had a major
impact on her life; her father instilled a
strong social conscience, while her mother
taught her to be independent minded. After
studying in Aurobindo Ashram in
Pondicherry and Indraprastha College in
Delhi, Aruna started teaching. But, she
realized that teaching wasn’t her passion as
she aimed to become a civil servant. She
cleared the Indian Administrative Services
(IAS) examination in 1967. Aruna is known
as a prominent leader of the Mazdoor Kisan
Shakti Sangathan (MKSS),
a social and grassroots organization for the empowerment of workers and peasants. In 2005, she
played a crucial role in establishing the Right to Information Act (RTI). Aruna has received various
awards for her service to the society, such as the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community
Leadership in 2000, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration,
Academia and Management in 2010. In 2011, Aruna was named as one of the ‘100 most

18. Medha Patkar is a social reformer turned
politician. Born in Mumbai, Medha had a keen
interest in public service at a very early age. Being
a daughter of a trade union leader, she started
understanding the problems faced by the
underprivileged and felt the need to serve them.
Her father took active part in the Indian
Independence Movement, while her mother was
member of Swadar, an organisation formed to
assist and support women who are financially
weak, and helped them in getting educated.
Patkar is an MA in Social Work from Tata
Institute of Social Science. She left her position
from the faculty as well as her unfinished PhD
when she became completely involved in the tribal
and peasant communities in Maharashtra,
Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat. She is best
recognised as the founding member of the famous
Narmada Bachao Andolan – a movement to save
the rivers and people of Gujarat. As a candidate of
Aam Aadmi Party in 2014, she received 8.9

19. Kiran Bedi was born and bred in the holy city of
Amritsar, Punjab. She is a social activist and the
first woman IPS officer in the country. She has not
only served her department with full conviction, but
has also made whole-hearted contribution to many
social causes. A former tennis player, the multi-
talented social activist from Amritsar is credited for
bringing down the number of crimes against women
in West Delhi during her service. She introduced
several reforms at Tihar Jail, which gained
worldwide acclaim and won her the Ramon
Magsaysay Award in 1994. In 2003, Kiran became
the first Indian woman to be appointed as a Police
Advisor to the Secretary-General of the United
Nations in the Department of Peace Keeping
Operations. She resigned in 2007 to focus on social
activism and writing. She has written several books,
and runs the India Vision Foundation.

20. There have been innumerable debates about gender in India over the years.
Much of it includes women’s positing in society, their education, health,
economic position, gender equality etc. What one can conclude from such
discussions is that women have always held a certain paradoxical position in
our developing country.
While on one hand, India has seen an increased percentage of literacy among
women, and women are now entering professional fields, the practices of
female infanticide, poor health conditions and lack of education still persisting
still continue. Even the patriarchal ideology of the home being a woman’s
‘real domain’ and marriage being her ultimate destiny hasn’t changed much.
The matrimonial advertisements, demanding girls of the same caste, with fair
skin and slim figure, or the much criticized fair and lovely ads, are indicators
of the slow changing social mores. If one looks at the status of women then
and now, one has to look at two sides of the coin; one side which is promising,
and one side which is bleak.