In the last century, it was a menace in a large section of the society that despite being the pivot of the family, the woman did not get the place she was entitled to. The main reasons for this were the age-old evils, superstitions and narrow-mindedness towards girl child education. For the last two decades, under the women empowerment programme, sensitivity and concern have been expressed on socio-economic, political and legal issues related to women. Women empowerment is the process of empowering women by creating awareness and self-confidence in them at all levels, namely physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. In general, women empowerment emphasizes only on the rights of women - there is no awareness about the duties. This is the reason that our country has not been able to completely reap the benefits of “Women Empowerment” even after so many years.
The ancient Indian education system combined the inculcation of moral values along with education. The Gurukul System was prevalent during those days. At that time, men and women enjoyed equal rights in the society, which resulted in a strong foundation of family and society. Later on, during the British Rule, the education system was made devoid of moral values by Lord Macaulay, as a result of which moral values got lost and India completely lost her pride.
For women empowerment, it is very important that women should have a sense of both duties and rights, and education should also include inculcation of moral and ethical values. Besides, they should also be aware about the core values of our culture. If all these are included in our lives, only then women empowerment will be achieved in the true sense and our country would come out of the current plight. This is a meaningful step in the right direction to solve many complex problems of the country.
Sanitation and health awareness is also an integral and important part of women empowerment. Girls should also know the art of living a healthy life because a healthy mind resides in a healthy body. Good health should be our topmost priority in life. There is a verse in Sanskrit-
