Women's Education and Empowerment in Indian Knowledge Traditions

The present research paper focuses on Women’s Education and Empowerment in Indian KnowledgeTraditions. In the context of adopting human development, as the ultimate goal of all overdevelopmental efforts, empowerment of women gains priority. Women account for 495.74 million andrepresent 48.3 percent of country’s total population as per the 2001 census. The country’s concern insafeguarding the rights and privileges of women found its best expansion in the Constitution of India.While Article 14 confers equal rights and opportunities men and women in the political, economic andsocial spheres. Article 15 prohibits discrimination against any citizen on the grounds of sex, religion,race, caste etc, and Article 15 (3) empowers the State to make affirmative discrimination in favour ofwomen. Similarly, Article 16 provides for equality of opportunity in the matter of public appointmentsfor all citizens; Article 39 stipulates that the State shall direct its policy towards providing men andwomen equally the right to means of livelihood and equal pay for equal work; Article 42 directs theState to make provisions for ensuring just and human conditions of work and maternity relief; andArticle 51 (A) (e) imposes a fundamental duty on every citizen to renounce practices derogatory to thedignity of women. To make this de-jure equality into a de-facto one, many policies and programmeshave been put into action from time to time, beside enacting/ enforcing special legislations, in favourof women.