The Changing Status of Women in West Bengal, 1970-2000

The Challenge Ahead

This edited volume is a timely assessment of the politics implemented in the wake of the `Report of the Committee on the Status of Women in India` released in 1974,which asserted the need for action so that the constitutional promise of equality for men and women in India could be realised.

The product of painstaking research by a team of eminent academics, the book is a study of the way women`s lives evolved, delving into virtually every sphere of human activity imaginable—from economic empowerment to health to legal issues.

[This] work is a unique study of three decades that have witnessed by far the most apparent changes in the visibility, status and social relevance of women in the country, and this book promises to be an important reference point. The result of several years of compilation and analysis, the study looks at several parameters that may assess status: demography, health and nutrition, education, economic, political and cultural participation, violence against women and the safeguards in the eyes of law, and finally, the lives of tribal women. It is replete with tables and one cannot help but be impressed with the compilation…. Perhaps one of the most significant chapters here would be the one on policy recommendations…. This book takes an honest look at the scope for improvement with objective pointers through the chapters…. These pointers…are heartening indicators of an earnest and dispassionate effort.