ECONOMICS PROJECT

Name : Ayush Jha

Class : 11 ( C )
Roll no. : 6
Subject : ECONOMICS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all, I would like to thank my teacher Mr.
Gaurhari Sarkar whose valuable guidance has been
the one that helped me patch this project and make it
full proof success. His suggestions and instructions has
served as the major contributor towards the
completion of the project. Not forgotten my parents
for providing everything, such as money to buy
anything related to the project work and their advice,
support which are the most needed for the project.
They also supported and encouraged me to complete
this task so that I will not procrastinate in doing it.

AYUSH JHA
CLASS 11 (Humanities)
 (1)

TOPIC
Compare the status of women of your state with
that at the national level oil the last 10 years, On
the basis of educational level, , employment, etc..

The status of women of West Bengal

compared to the national level.

West Bengal is now the third most populous state in India, with a
population density of a little more than 900 persons per square km.
The state continues to attract a large number of migrants from
neighbouring states as well as neighbouring countries. Its
topography is dominated by the alluvial plains of the Ganga and its
tributaries, except for the hilly terrain of North Bengal, extending
into the Himalayan foothills. During the last few decades West
Bengal has recorded high rates of agricultural growth. It also has a
strong industrial base which needs to be further strengthened and
diversified.

Before we begin our detailed review of the situation of women in

West Bengal, it would be useful to gain a broader perspective by
looking at certain important socio-economic indicators which have
been compiled in Tables S 1, S 2 and S 3. The first two Tables depict
the position of West Bengal in an all-India context while the third
presents a bird's eye view of regional variations within the state of
West Bengal, based on available district level information.

West Bengal's population growth rate during 1991-2001 has been

1.8 per cent per year, lower than the all-India annual growth of rate
of 2.1 per cent. Similarly, levels of infant mortality, maternal
mortality and total fertility are also well below the respective
national averages. However, though the state's female literacy rate
at 60 per cent is appreciably higher than the all-India proportion of
54 per cent, its worker-population ratio for women at 18 per cent is
substantially lower than the all-India figure of about 26 per cent.

Since 1990 the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

has been publishing Human Development Reports for a large
number of countries, assessing the level of human development
achieved by each through the yardstick of the Human Development
Index or HDI, which is based on three important indicators:
expectation of life at birth, educational attainment and per capita
income. The HDR of 1995 introduced two new measures for
evaluating the relative situation of women in a given country. The
first is the Gender Development Index or the GDI, which is based on
the same three indicators as the HDI but are differentiated for
women and men, to be converted into a specific score that indicates
the extent of gender-based
disparities prevailing in a given country. The second is the
Gender Empowerment Measure or GEM, which computes the
extent to which women participate in economic and political
decision making again, on the basis of certain chosen variables. All
the three measures HDI, GDI and GEM can ideally reach a
maximum score or value of 1. A study on state level GEM values in
India has placed West Bengal in the 7th position in a list of 16 states.
Table S 2 provides estimates a HDI and GDI for different states of
India, as computed by the Planning Commission of Government of
India in its National Human Development Report published in
March 2002.

Table S 2 shows that 27 per cent of the state’s population (about

213.5 lakh) were reported to be living below the poverty line (BPL)
in 2001 almost at par with the national average and the average per
capita monthly expenditure in the state was estimated at Rs. 572 as
against the national average of Rs. 591. Estimates based on National
Sample Survey (NSS) findings show that BPL population in rural
West Bengal declined from 41 to 32 per cent between 1993-94 (NSS
% 50 Round) and 1999. 2000 (NSS 55th Round) while in urban areas
it declined from 7.4 per cent to 4.2 per cent There is, of course, no
gender-disaggregated data on poverty in the standard sources, but it
is now being

Recognised that women usually constitute a majority among the

poor.

Table 5 3 presents district-wise estimates for population living below

the poverty line, monthly per capita income and per capita district
domestic product at current prices as computed by analysts. It also
presents HDI and GDI scores and rankings for each district as
computed in the West Bengal Human Development Report
published by the Govt. of West Bengal in May 2004. The Child
Survival Index has been calculated by the author of our source
material by subtracting the relevant district level infant mortality
rate from unity (or the score 1) and then using the resultant figure
to arrive at the Child Survival Index as per the UNDP’s method of
computing the HDI. Predictably, Kolkata has the highest scores for
all the indices, followed closely by Howrah, Hooghly and Darjeeling.

In the following six sections we present gender-based perspectives

on (i) Demography. (ii) Health and Nutrition, (ii) Literacy and
Education . (v) Violence and (vi) Empowerment.
Wherever possible we attention to inter-district variations within
West Bengal. The Annexures contain a brief ‘Cameo of Women in
Kolkata’, apart from certain documents having a bearing on the
situation of women in West Bengal.
 Status of women of West Bengal on
the basis of education.

The significance of universal literacy and women education as an

instrument of galvanizing and mobilizing the people arousing
community consciousness and community participation for bringing
social change was highlighted in the first half of twentieth century
with Mahatma Gandhi describing mass illiteracy as "India's sin and
shame" He emphasized the need for universal basic education for
children and advocated adult education with a moral component for
social and cultural regeneration and a political component for
strengthening the national struggle for freedom. After
independence, the role of adult education along with universal
elementary education as an agent of social change and development-
was duly recognized and given a prominent place in the successive
five year plans. However, it is heartening to know that with serious
concern shown by the centre and the state governments the situation
has constantly been changing, indicating progressive improvement.

Education's importance has been emphasized by a number of

international conventions, including the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights and the Programme of Action of the 1994
International Conference on Population and Development. The
Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995,
recognized that women's literacy is the key to empowering women's
participation in decision making in society and to improving families
well-being.

In the increasingly open global economy, countries with high rates

of illiteracy and gender gaps in educational attainment tend to be
less competitive, because foreign investors seek labor that is skilled
as well as inexpensive. Various global trends pose special challenges
to women who are illiterate or have limited education. Economies
export orientation and the growing importance of small and
medium-sized enterprises create opportunities for women, but
women need the appropriate education and training to take full
advantage of these opportunities :

: In addition, the benefits of female education for women's

empowerment and gender equality are broadly recognized:

: As female education rises, fertility, population growth, and infant

and child mortality fall and family health improves,
: Increases in girls secondary school enrollment are associated with
increases in women's participation in the labor

force and their contributions to household and national income.

: Women's increased earning capacity, in turn, has a positive effect

on child nutrition

: Children-especially daughters- of educated mothers are more

likely to be enrolled in school and to have higher levels of
educational attainment.

: Educated women are more politically active and better informed

about their legal rights and how to exercise them.

Women Education and Their Work

Participation in West Bengal

Education is the prime factor for the development of mankind. It is

the way which leads a person, a community and a nation to the peak
of optimum development and progress. History reveals that the
women have been deprived from education in India for a long
tenure. The right to education of women has now been
constitutionally assured. The present study is specific and focuses on
the educational status of women in West Bengal and its impact on
their work participation. The education helps them to develop their
self reliance, consciousness and make them free from socio-economic
confinement. Education plays a significant role to make them free
from different socioeconomic barriers which they faced earlier.
Right now, Educated and even the least-educated women are
engaging themselves in different types of work. The study shows
that the level of education has significantly got its pace in West
Bengal over the last decade (2001 & 2011). And, the rate of work
participation by educated women is increasing like a way especially
in the main work sectors. But, there is a constraint of level of
education among the women engaged in marginal and non-
organized work sectors. Even, there is significant contrast between
the educational level of rural women and their urban part. But, the
poorly educated women in the rural sector are found engaged in the
different works (like agriculture and allied activities) in a large
scale. They earn but their mental horizon is not widened due to the
lack of education which ultimately brings forth a constraint for their
overall social development. The study suggests that education is a
significant determinant factor of increasing work participation of
women and their overall development. The study was based on
secondary data collected from various sources and based on the data
of the year 2001 and 2011 census.
Education brings about the change in attitude and helps in
achieving the psycho-somatic development in the human being.
It helps to widen the mental horizon and helps one to overcome the
different social-economical barriers. The condition of women in a
society is an index of the nation's place in terms of development and
growth. Overall growth of women instead of gender inequalities in
every realm of life is inseparable part of the nation's social, cultural
and economical development. Education helps the women to break
the year old barriers they had faced. They enter into the different
job sectors not only for their economic establishment, but to prove
their own ability and self-expression. Women education is taken as
an important and mandatory subject for maintaining the social &
economical balance & equality in India especially after post
independence era. West Bengal has made remarkable achievements
in the sphere of literacy & education especially in women education
as evidenced by the data based on census. West Bengal, according to
previous census data (1991, 2001), show remarkable growth. The
state's rural women literacy rate was 38% in 1991 and 54% in 2001.
In urban sector, West Bengal average is always high than the
national average [68% in 1991 and 76% in 2001). Education and
employment has brought about a self-reliance, confidence and a
sense of identity in the women. This change on women's part, that is
education and employment has got significant implications not only
for the women concerned but for the society as a whole.

The present study focused on the women education and women

participation in work in West Bengal.

Status of women of West Bengal on the

basis of employment.

Women’s experience of the labor market in India, like in any other

country, is substantially different from that of men. They are more
likely than men to be unemployed, underemployed or outside the
labor force altogether. They are relatively overrepresented in
certain sectors and underrepresented in others, and have lower
levels of human. Capital. It has been observed that women’s labor
market experience shows a lot more diversity across the world than
men’s, which implies that, as far as the labor market is concerned,
societal norms and traditions, the country’s institutions of
governance ete play a much more crucial role for women than for
men. Participation of women in economic activities is essential for
raising their status in society. The contributions of women to
nation’s envelopment are immense. But time immemorial their
services go unrecognized. Domestic work and services rendered at
home to family members are unpaid in all societies.

Women play a central role in the overall progress of a country as

they constitute half the human resources of a nation. The economic
wealth of a country is seriously depleted if about half of the nation’s
human resource is neglected. Recognising the need for involving
women in various development activities. The Government of India
has initiated several affirmative measures to bring them into the
mainstream of development. These affirmative actions have brought
about perceptible changes in the socio-economic status of women in
West Bengal as well as India. Participation in education and
employment of women is highly desirable for equity and balanced
development of the country. The primary objective of this part is to
examine the work participation status of female in West Bengal.
This Paper is presented the work participation status of women or
female in West Bengal.
Definitions of Women’s Work.

Women’s work or woman’s work is a term used particularly in the

West Bengal to indicate work that is believed to be exclusively the
domain of women and associates particular tasks with the female
gender. It is particularly used with regard to work that a mother or
wife will perform within a family and household. (See gendered
division of labor.) Related concepts include gender role, wage labor
and employment, female workforce, and women’s rights. The term
may be pejorative when applied to men performing roles which are
largely designated for women.

Work is defined as participation in any economic activity, with or

without compensation, wages or profit. Such participation may be
physical and/or mental in nature. Work, involves not only actual
work but also includes effective supervision and direction of work. It
even includes part-time help or unpaid work on the farm, family
enterprise or in any

Other economic activity. All persons engaged in ‘work’ as defined

above are workers:

Main Workers

A person who has worked for major part of the reference period
(Le. Six months or more during the last one year preceding the date
of enumeration) in any economically productive activity is termed as
the Main worker. Those persons who had worked for 6 months or
more during the reference period (ie. One year preceding the date of
enumeration) are termed as Main Workers.

Marginal Workers

A person who worked for 3 months or less but less than six months
of the reference period (ie. In the last one year preceding the date of
enumeration) in any economic activity is termed as the Marginal
worker

In Census 2011, marginal workers have been classified into two

categories viz…

Worked for 3 months or more but less than 6 months, during the
reference period.

Worked for less than 3 months, during the reference Period.

Work Participation Rate

Work participation rate is defined as the percentage of total workers

(main and marginal) to the total population.
Work Participation Rate TotalWorkers(Main+Marginal) x 100
TotalPopulation

OBJECTIVES

: To study the Ranking of the state s/ UTs according To the Female

Work Participation Rate 2001 and 2011.
: To study the State Wise Female Workforce Participation Rate
(2011) in India.
: To examine the Women Work Participation status(total) in West
Bengal.
: To find out the Work Participation Rate by Sex Urban in West
Bengal.
: To find out percentage of Female Total Workers. Main Workers,
Marginal Workers and Non-Workers in India and West Bengal to
Total Female Population.
: To understand the level and nature of the female workforce
activity in the study districts in West Bengal.
: To study the Female Work Participation Rate in Various Districts
of West Bengal by Sex and Region -2001.

METHODOLOGY
It is a documentary study. It is based on official documents and
secondary data. The conclusion made in the study was based on
Primary and Secondary sources. The Primary sources are
Government Report and Books. The Secondary sources data
relating to the literacy rates of male, female enrolment of the
student by sex in the primary, an upper primary stage for the period
1950-51 2010-11 in India and West Bengal are obtained from the
census report. Selected educational statistics Ministry of HRD,
Government of India, Annual reports, the study is mainly based on
data collected. from various census report of India. Some related
information's were extracted from various websites. The data
obtained were subjective to percentage analysis.

Work Participation

The census of India 1991 defines work as participation in any

economically productive activity whether the participation is
physical or mental in nature. In addition to these activities like
cultivation for self-consumption and unpaid work for family,
enterprise are also considered to be work. The census of India, 1991
divides the working population into three broad categories main
workers, marginal workers, and non-workers.
 (2)

TOPIC
A Study Of Two Cooperative Institutions with a
view, to compare the Organizational and
Financial Structure of the Organizations
Production Capacity and Output, Marketing
Strategies, Sales, Market Share, etc..