Page 215 - DSOC202_SOCIAL_STRATIFICATION_ENGLISH

Social Stratification

Notes The law pertaining to the adoption of children was passed in 1956, called the Hindu Adoption and
Maintenance Act. Not only a married woman but an unmarried woman, a widow, and a divorcee
are also given the right to adopt a child. Only such children are permitted to be adopted who are
unmarried and less than fifteen years of age.
Abortion was legally treated as a criminal offence till 1970. In 1971, the Medical Termination of
Pregnancy Act was passed which legally permitted both pregnant woman and abortionist to
cause miscarriage. The legislation, which came into force in April 1972, permits the termination of
pregnancy by a registered doctor if it does not exceed twelve weeks. The pregnancy is to be
terminated if it involves risk to the life of the pregnant woman, grave injury to her physical/
mental health, and the risk that if the child is born, he would suffer from such physical or mental
abnormalities so as to be seriously handicapped. The termination of pregnancy is also permitted
where it is caused by rape or failure of contraceptive device.
Economic Laws
The issues pertaining to economic laws include : right to property or inheritance, equal wages,
working conditions, maternity benefits, and job security. The right to property of a woman refers
to her right as a daughter, as a wife, as a widow, and as a mother. According to the Hindu
Succession Act, 1956, not only a daughter is given a right in her father’s property equal to her
brothers, but a widow also gets a share in her deceased husband’s property equal to her sons and
daughters. The legislation has also removed the distinction between stridhan and non-stridhan.
As regards the equal wages, the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 does not permit wage discrimination
between male and female workers. The legislation prescribes penalties for those employers who
disobey the rules.
The working conditions during employment are governed by the Factory Act, 1948. Besides
including provisions dealing with working hours, weekly rest, standards of cleanliness, ventilation,
temperature, fencing of machinery, first-aid facilities, and rest rooms, the legislation provides for
the establishing of creches for children (if the factory employs thirty or more women), separate
toilets for females and lays down a maximum work of nine hours in a day for women and no
employment of women between 10 : 00 p.m. and 5 : 00 a.m.
Political Rights

The two important rights in the political field sanctioned to women by the Indian Constitution are
: female enfranchisement and eligibility for the legislature. The demand for women’s suffrage was
first made in 1917 but was rejected by the Southborough Franchise Committee in 1918. In 1919, the
government permitted the states to enact their own laws for granting franchise to women. Such
laws were enacted by Rajkot in 1923, Travancore and Cochin in 1924, Madras and Uttar Pradesh
in 1925, Punjab and Assam in 1926, and Bihar and Orissa in 1929 (Jane Matson, 1971 : 108-110).
The Government of India Act, 1935 granted female enfranchisement on the basis of educational
qualifications. Subsequently, fifty-six women entered the legislatures in the 1937 elections. After
the independence, the number of women voters and women’s representatives in assemblies and
parliament has increased sufficiently.
Consciousness of Rights
Though women in India have more rights than women of other countries, but are our women
conscious of all these rights? Do they actually enjoy these rights? This author conducted a study
a few years ago in eight villages of a district in Rajasthan among 753 women belonging to 18-50
years age-group. The main object of the study was to assess the degree of awareness and measure
the level of satisfaction among women of rights sanctioned by the Constitution and the various
laws. The conceptual model conceived for this research assured that the level of awareness of
rights by a woman in a specific domain (economic, social, political or religious) is dependent on

210 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY