Dr. ADIL RASOOL MALIK
In today’s fast paced life and ever revolutionizing era where women are acclaiming most of the top leadership roles and positions worldwide and shining bright to establish their own identity, claiming their own freedom and setting up their own ways and sources of attaining financial freedom. Its heart-warming to see and indeed a proud moment to experience the ways in which they are slowly and steadily leaving behind all the taboos that used to surround them in the society in the past that had reduced their ambit to domestic chores only with no rights to explore or progress upon.
In our country, Nirmala Sitharaman, the present Finance Minister has set a commendable example for all women. She in her career has held various offices of importance and power in the past from being the Defence Minister of India, the spokesperson of an imminent national political party and so forth– she has climbed the ranks of success through her hard work and diligence, setting an inspirational example for all women. Her example paves the path for every women to dream and realize a ‘sense of empowerment’ within self and also to establish ‘financial freedom’ for themselves.
Financial independence as a broader term can be regarded as one’s capacity to support their own lifestyle without depending on others. This allows one to make financial decisions on their own, free from guidance or resources of others, both for now and the future. Being financially independent is an extremely important asset for every women in today’s era, however they still face disparity in society due to lack of accessibility to same opportunities as men, the prevalence of the wide gap in wages between men and women – all of this hampers their sense of security and autonomy.
When it comes to Kashmir, being financially independent should be a requisite for all the women as firstly, it enables them to support themselves and their families, which can help reduce poverty levels and a boon to uplift their communities at own level. Secondly, it gives them the freedom to make their own decisions and take control of their lives – to pursue things they wanted or ideas they believed in. Thirdly, it empowers them to contribute to the economic growth of their communities and the country.
Women empowerment is thus a crucial movement that is a necessity for every society as it advocates for equal rights and opportunities for women in all spheres of life. It is a movement that has gained momentum over the years, and rightly so has helped shape the society for the better. The empowerment of women is thus conclusively critical for the development of any society and it involves various spheres that need to be taken into accord for holistic growth and development including education, employment, health, and political participation.
However rosy the picture may seem, there still exists some downsides to the scenario in Kashmir like lack of ample vocational training centres which hamper their access to quality skill refinement and enrichment, job opportunities, and financial resources. These challenges also include social and cultural norms that prioritize the role of women as caregivers and homemakers.
The past three decades in Kashmir have seen a paradigm shift in the functioning and working of the various offices and systems – be it the restoration of peace and harmony in the valley with the concomitant decrease in acts of violence which have led to a promising atmosphere for the citizen to feel safe and explore varied business opportunities or the various new government schemes that the government has introduced like the ‘Umeed’ scheme which provides financial assistance to women entrepreneurs, the establishment of the Entrepreneurship Development Institute which provides training and support to aspiring entrepreneurs or the abrogation of Article 370 which has greatly increased the availability of jobs and accelerated the career advancements for men and women alike.
These exemplary opportunities have thus encouraged many women to step out and break free from their stereotypical roles of just being a house occupant to an earning member of the family who knows her worth and contributes towards her future. This wave of entrepreneurship has sailed beautifully throughout Kashmir and strengthened the women of the society. In recent times, Kashmir has witnessed ample women starting up something of their own – it could be something that their heart is fond of, something that feel would reap more benefits, something that is more acceptable to their ideals like working towards more sustainable lifestyles etc. – but each with a unified greater motive of being their own boss and gaining financial independence.
A roadblock however that still exists for women is the popping up of all the aforementioned offices and working spaces in the urban part of the valley making them a little unapproachable for the women from the rural sectors – areas where the need for financial independence and growth is the maximum amongst all. Thus to make their life more easier and safer – the government can think of building hostels for these young women so that they can stay in the main city safely and carry on with their jobs – instead of staying with landlords or in hotels.
Another proposition is – for the authorities to setup “Co-Working Spaces”, which shall act as an excellent place for like-minded people to come together and carry on their work without the need of physical office spaces and helping women who may not have a lump sum amount for initial investments required to rent/buy an office space. Getting a virtual address for your work space shall also help the woman to launch many businesses from the comfort of their home, which can help them make additional income while being able to take care of their families. In recent times, some setups have been established but for the people of Kashmir to fully utilize the advantages of this revolutionary concept – we need to focus on establishing them at remote areas and not just urban cities.
Financial independence is thus crucial for women in Kashmir, and there are various ways in which they are achieving it. These include entrepreneurship, vocational training, self-help groups, and other government initiatives. However, more needs to be done to address the challenges faced by women in Kashmir and ensure that they have equal access to education, job opportunities, and financial resources. By empowering women financially, we can promote gender equality, reduce poverty levels, and contribute to the economic growth of the region.
(The author can be reached at [email protected] & twitter @drmalikadil)
