Changing the Terms of the Discourse

Charter of Demands by Women’s Organizations on Women’s Employment

International Women’s Day

8 March, 1983

In spite of the rising evidence of women’s increasing vulnerability to oppression because of unemployment, poverty and lack of economic independence, and the growing demands from women’s organisations across the country, Government policies and programmes for employment generation and improving working conditions continue to ignore women’s needs and problems. As a result of the pressure from women’s organizations, a chapter on Women and Development appeared in the Sixth Five Year Plan.

While this chapter admits that one of the main drawbacks in women’s development is the “lack of independent economic generation activity or independent assets” ...