"It is a well known fact that most Indian families spend more on their daughter’s wedding when compared to her education. And the daughters-in-law are mostly expected to take care of the family rather than continuing their studies or having a steady career. Because of this reason, women are said to have jobs and not careers! We live in a society where the upbringing of children still depends largely on the mother. What good are we going to pass on to the next generation if that mother is illiterate? The chances are that her own daughter might become an illiterate mother one day, thus continuing the vicious cycle. The common perception is that the girls of the family will get married one day and would not contribute to the financial needs of the family. But what we are not able to understand is that the upbringing and empowerment of future generations is left to illiterate mothers. This is like a chain reaction wherein the next generation of daughters, mostly from the rural areas, are treated the same. In a poverty stricken family, every hard earned rupee would be spent on the needs and education of the son without any questions.
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Vinod Kumar Rawat is Associate Fellow Varanasi. He has a PhD from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, with specialization in Women empowerment. He has published many articles in journals and chapters in books. His main research areas are urbanization, poverty, health, social exclusion and social protection programmes.