Women education in Kalahandi is in alarming situation. We must be aware of the fact that if she is uneducated then close to half of the population is uneducated. Educating a woman means educating the family and the nation. According to the census report of 2011 total population of Kalahandi is 15 Lakh 76 thousands 869 and numbers of women are 7 Lakhs 89 thousands 768. The population of male adivasi is 50.8% out of the total male population. Population of female adivasi is 50.79% out of the total female population of Kalahandi. The second largest population is of schedule caste in the district and numbers of women in SC is 50.40%. It indicates numbers of female is higher than the male number.
Despite there is many developmental projects for women in the country and states yet the development of female in the district is frustrating. According to the government women development project of the district many initiative have been taken from the administration like supply of uniform to girl students, bicycle distribution, Sabala Jojana with mission power to create self employment, and many projects are going on for self awareness for the women of Kalahandi.
Since then, the Sarva Sikshya Abhiyan (SSA) has come up with many schemes for inclusive as well as exclusive growth of Indian education as a whole, including schemes to help foster the growth of female education.
The major schemes are Mahila Samakhya Programme which was launched in 1988 as a result of the New Education Policy (1968). It was created for the empowerment of women from rural areas especially socially and economically marginalized groups.
Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) scheme was launched in July, 2004, to provide education to girls at primary level. It is primarily for the underprivileged and rural areas where literacy level for females is very low. The schools that were set up have 100% reservation: 75% for backward class and 25% for BPL (below Poverty line) females.
National Programme for Education of Girls at Elementary Level (NPEGEL) was launched in July, 2003. It was an incentive to reach out to the girls who the SSA was not able to reach through other schemes. The SSA called out to the “hardest to reach girls”.
But analyzing the figures of census 2011, literacy rate of Kalahandi is 60.22%. Out of the 60.22%, 73.34% are male while numbers of female are 47.27%. Accordingly, out of the total population of the district 49.14% i.e. 7 Lakhs 74 thousands 833 people are illiterate. And out of the total illiterate population the figure of female illiterate is 39.10% i.e. 3 lakhs 2 thousands 909 female.
How much it is true with all these figures if we will conclude that women development and empowerment rate in the district have increased. Though these figures are available at the district website still it is a big question raised that how much benefit, the developmental projects executed in the district, are reaching to the beneficiaries. There are 273 panchayats in the district and according to the law 50% seats are reserved for women. People have elected women candidates for Sarpanch, Samiti Member, Jilla Parishad Member posts but most of them are illiterate. The government is claiming women empowerment by organizing women Self Help Groups. But in a parallel, women in the district are still facing torture and violence at home. Family court has been established in the district but numbers of cases are increasing day by day. And cases are running and pending for years at the court. The development of women in the district should not be compassed inside the official files and in papers rather it should be realized.
