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• Reduce dropout rates at elementary level from 52.2% to 20% in 2011- 12; increase literacy rate
for persons above age of 7 years and more to 85%; lower gender gap in literacy to 10 points.
• Reduce infant mortality rate to 28 and maternal mortality to 1 per 100 live births; reduce total
fertility rate to 2.1; reduce malnutrition amongst children of age 0-3years to half of its present
level; reduce anemia amongst women and girls by 50%.
• Raise sex ratio for age group 0-6 to 935 by 2011-12 and to 950 by 2016- 17; ensure that at least
33% of all direct and indirect beneficiaries of all government schemes are women and girl
children.
• Ensure electricity connection to all villages and BPL households; ensure all weather road
connection to all habitations; provide homestead sites to all and step up the pace of house
construction.
• Increase forest and tree cover; treat all urban waste water.
The philosophy of empowerment as stressed under this FYP was ‘gender equality and equity’ and
‘elimination of gender discrimination’. While the Eleventh Five Plan gave priority to health, nutrition,
education, income generating activities, relief and rehabilitation for women in distress, 15 thrust areas
were identified for the plan period to achieve the goal of women’s empowerment. Let us have a look at
the thrust areas identified to improve the status of women during this plan period.
(1) Nutrition and gender: to lay adequate stress on addressing the problem of malnutrition and
anemia with provision of status of women during supplementary nutrition and micro
nutrient supplements.
(2) Health and gender: to give priority to pre-natal and post-natal care to address the high rate
of MMR and other health related problems addressed through life cycle approach.
Vulnerable groups: identify and place priority to women affected by violence, women
affected by internal displacement, disasters and migration; agriculture laborers; women
affected by HIV/AIDS; slum dwellers; women prisoners; women from religious and ethnic
minorities; single women; adolescents’ girls; widows.
(3) Women headed households: Especially for wife of farmers who have committed suicides
special package on health care, nutrition, micro credit.
(4) Globalization and women: skill and training upgradation for women in emerging trades and
address safety issues in new workplaces. Address the needs of the women affected by land
acquisition such a gender sensitive resettlement and rehabilitation policy.
(5) Women Self Help Groups: facilitate the SHGs to transform to Community Based
Organizations and take up larger credit facilities for improved and bigger economic
activities.
Women in agriculture: develop specific packages for women in agriculture such as
conferring land rights, improving access to credit, improving skills etc.
(6) Women in Panchayat Raj Institutions: empower women in local self-governments so that
they can play a more proactive role through capacity building, education, training on laws,
programmes and policies.
(7) Gender and the law: to give high priority to training and capacity building of law
enforcement agencies, police, judiciary with regards to gender issues, to inculcate gender
sensitivity.
(8) Gender disaggregated database: every programmed, scheme or project to have inbuilt
mechanism to gather sex disaggregated data to develop a Gender Development Index at
state and national level.
Adolescents and their welfare: special package for the development of adolescents and
address their need on nutrition, anemia, school dropout, domestic labor, trafficking, child
marriage and many such problems.
(9) Gender Budgeting: incorporate Gender Budgeting not only in sectors such as health,
education but also in industry, power, infrastructure etc.; but also mainstreaming gender in
policy, legislation, judiciary, corporate sector and civil society.
(10) Institutional mechanism: strengthen the institutional mechanisms for integrating gender
perspectives in policy and planning; set up National and State Councils on women’s
development. 14) Media: formulate a gender sensitive media policy and ensure that media
promote non stereotype portrayal of women.
(11) Role of Ministry of Women and Child Development: to include policy formulation,
conception of innovative programmes, coordination with other sectors and state
governments, gender budgeting.