Ram Narayan Prasad, b. 1941, Professor of Public Administration, Mizoram University.

This book explores the relationship between the state, development policy, and gender (in)equality in India. It discusses the formation of state policy on gender and development in India in the post-1990 period through three key organising concepts of institutions, discourse, and agency. The book pays particular attention to whether the international policy language of gender mainstreaming has been adopted by the Indian state, and if so, to what extent and with what results. The author examines how these issues play out at multiple levels of governance – at both the national and the subnational (state) level in federal India. This comparative aspect is particularly important in the context of increasing autonomy in development policymaking in India in the 1990s, divergent development policy approaches and outcomes among states, and the emerging importance of subnational state development policies and programmes for women in this period. The author argues that the state is not a monolith but a heterogeneous, internally differentiated collection of institutions, which offers complex and varying opportunities and consequences for feminists engaging the state. Demonstrating that the Indian empirical case is illuminating for studies of the gendered politics of development, and international debates on gender mainstreaming, the book highlights the politics of negotiating gender equality strategies in the contemporary context of neo-liberal development and brings together complex issues of modernity, postcolonialism, identity politics, federalism, and equality within the broader context of the world’s largest democracy. This book will be of interest to scholars interested in the politics of gender equality, state feminism, and gender mainstreaming; federalism and multi-level governance; and development studies and gender in South Asia.

"Devaki Jain opens the doors of the United Nations and shows how it has changed the female half of the world -- and vice versa. Women, Development, and the UN is a book that every global citizen, government leader, journalist, academic, and self-respecting woman should read." -- Gloria Steinem "Devaki Jain's book nurtures your optimism in this terrible war-torn decade by describing how women succeeded in empowering both themselves and the United Nations to work toward a global leadership inspired by human dignity." -- Fatema Mernissi In Women, Development, and the UN, internationally noted development economist and activist Devaki Jain traces the ways in which women have enriched the work of the United Nations from the time of its founding in 1945. Synthesizing insights from the extensive literature on women and development and from her own broad experience, Jain reviews the evolution of the UN's programs aimed at benefiting the women of developing nations and the impact of women's ideas about rights, equality, and social justice on UN thinking and practice regarding development. Jain presents this history from the perspective of the southern hemisphere, which recognizes that development issues often look different when viewed from the standpoint of countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The book highlights the contributions of the four global women's conferences in Mexico City, Copenhagen, Nairobi, and Beijing in raising awareness, building confidence, spreading ideas, and creating alliances. The history that Jain chronicles reveals both the achievements of committed networks of women in partnership with the UN and the urgent work remaining to bring equality and justice to the world and its women.

Gender and Development the Indian Scenario, is a book basically intended for the Under-Graduate and Post-Graduate students of the Course-Gender and Development. It indeed gives an immense pleasure to share that this can be a text-book for Under-graduate, to orient them with the areas: Gender-role, rearing, discrimination socialization agents " Policies and Programmes for gender Development " Women s Studies " Women Administrators " Reproductive Health Concerns " Women Enterpreneur and Enterpreneurship " Women and Violence and so on. This book also will be ready reference material for teachers at Under-graduate level.

The author starts with discussing the historical position of women in Indian society and points out the key issues which have affected women's lives. She then goes on to discuss the policies and programmes instituted by the government as part of planned development after independence. Another crucial issue she deals with is the status of the girl child, adressed in the context of the sex ratio, child mortality indices, nutricional status and health services. She evaluates women's health programmes and the unequal employment opportunities available to women in spite of sevral government employment schemes.

The extent of empowerment of women in a nation is largely determined by three factors - economic, social, and political identity. India's Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-07) called for a three-pronged strategy of social empowerment, economic empowerment, and providing gender justice to create a positive environment of economic, and social policies for women, and eliminating all forms of discrimination against them. The government of India has initiated various schemes spread across a broad spectrum, such as women's need for shelter, security, safety, legal aid, justice, information, maternal health, food, nutrition etc., as well as their need for economic sustenance through skill development, education, and access to credit and marketing. In order to address the phenomenon of domestic violence, which is widely prevalent but remains largely invisible in the public domain, the Protection from Domestic Violence Act, 2006 was enacted by the Indian Parliament. This collection of 35 papers examines various areas of interest including socio-economic status, women entrepreneurship, women in politics, role of information and communication technology in empowering women, and domestic violence.

Chapter 1 Social Exclusion of Women in India, Chapter 2 Inclusive Strategies for Women Development, Chapter 3 Media Depiction and Gender Inclusiveness in Gender-Based Social Violence, Chapter 4 Inclusive Society: Vision of Women’s Studies, Chapter 5 Health Hazards of Women-Economic Empowerment: Some Issues, Chapter 6 Employment Oriented Programs for Women in Rural Nagpur— Exclusion in Inclusive Policy, Chapter 7 Including the Excluded Through Aftercare: The Odishan Experiment and Experience with The Aging out Orphan Girls from the Care Homes, Chapter 8 Violence Against Women: A Denial of Human Rights and Dignity, Chapter 9 Impact of Gender on Family Planning Decisions, Chapter 10 Battle Against Oppression: Feminist Response of Bapsi Sidhwa, Chapter 11 An Extensive Analysis on Women’s Education and Women’s Education for Future Prosperity in India, Chapter 12 Performative Gender and Technology: Rearticulating The Digital Argument for Women Empowerment, Chapter 13 The Effect of Social Exclusion of Women from Development in India, Chapter 14 Disaster and Development Communication Among Self Help Group Women, Chapter 15 Trends In Crime Against Women in India, Chapter 16 Strategizing Alternative Communication for Overcoming Social Discrimination of Women: A Study of the Enabling Practices to Eradicate Witch Hunting in Assam, Chapter 17 ‘Is Employment Really Empowering?’—A Study on The Plight of Working Women, Chapter 18 Social Exclusion of Transgender Women in India, Chapter 19 Strategies for Promoting Gender Mainstreaming, Chapter 20 E-Learning: the Tool for Women Empowerment.