Nari Shakti Vandan NCERT module praises key schemes on women

Nari Shakti Vandan is third in a series of special supplementary reading material prepared by the council

The National Council of Educational Research and Training on Tuesday released a supplementary module for school students on women’s empowerment, highlighting initiatives taken by the government, including schemes like Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, self-help groups, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, and the recent law that reserves 33% seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies.

The new module has been divided into seven units on themes that include empowering women and political participation of women for equality. (Representative file image)

The module -- Nari Shakti Vandan -- is third in a series of special supplementary reading material prepared by the council that recommends school curriculum. Earlier, it had released modules on India’s Chandrayaan-3 space mission and India’s G20 presidency.

“The modules have been prepared with the aspiration to integrate significant achievements of the country into the school curriculum as supplementary reading,” an official said, seeking anonymity. They are meant for students from classes 1 to 12.

The module on women’s empowerment was issued at a time when several central ministries are releasing guidelines for greater participation of women in the workforce.

The new module has been divided into seven units on themes that include empowering women, political participation of women for equality, economic empowerment of women, and contribution of women in the development of society.

The module mentions how women have been considered as honoured since ancient times in India because they provide support, love and protection in different forms. It quotes Manusmriti, a Hindu religious text, as saying, “Yatra naryastu pujyante ramante tatra devataah, Yatraitaastu na pujyante sarvastatraphalah kriyah (where women are respected, gods reside; and where they are not respected, all actions become fruitless).”

Highlighting that the central government is focused on promoting women’s empowerment, the module states: “It is committed to improving women’s lives in the country and removing any bottlenecks that come in the way of their development.”

It also quotes a remark by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “The determination of India’s women, their will power, their imagination, their ability to take quick decisions, their rigor to achieve the set goals, and the culmination of their hard work— this is the identity of our nari shakti (women power),” it quotes Modi as saying.

The module highlights various interministerial initiatives for women’s empowerment, including the government’s flagship Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Scheme launched in 2015 with the objective of bringing behavioural change in the society towards birth and rights of a girl child; UDAAN, a project launched by the Central Board of Secondary Education to address the low enrolment of girl students in engineering institutions; PM Poshan, a nutritional boosting scheme; Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, which provide cooking gas cylinders to poor households at subsidized rates; and the Economic Empowerment of Women through Self-help Groups scheme.

“The different initiatives of the government in terms of policy, programmes, schemes, etc., designed for development of women have had a major impact. The gender gaps in education have been reduced at all stages,” the module said. “Initiatives like the KGBV (Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya) and the PM Poshan scheme have played a significant role in enhancing enrolment and retention of girl students.”

The module discusses the role of women in politics and the new Nari Shakti Vandan Act passed in Parliament last year. It mentions women politicians who have held significant positions in politics, including former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Mrinal Gore, Vijaya Raje Scindia, J Jayalalitha, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, Sheila Dixit, Sushma Swaraj, and President Droupadi Murmu.

“The Act will help increase women’s participation in politics. If we have more women’s representation in Parliament, they are likely to prioritize issues related to education, health, and women and child welfare,” the module states.

It also mentions that 43 women artists have been presented with Padma awards between 2018 and 2023.