HUMAN beings desire peace, prosperity, happiness and fulfilment. Accordingly,
the Vedas show us the way to our ultimate goal—physical prosperity with
spiritual accomplishment. All else— purse, power, position, prestige and
profession—are just means to that end. However, in the course of years, the
eternal principles of the Vedas have been diluted and distorted, resulting in
many contradictions in the social conduct of today, namely the malpractices of
the caste system based on birth and discrimination against women, both of which
are against Santana Dharma. If we observe the past, discrimination developed
through various human activities related to the disciplines of economy and
philosophy. For instance, women were excluded from politics and social life, as
per Greek philosophy. John Locke, an influential enlightenment thinker, focused
political theory on the Social Contract but concluded that women were not
allowed the same contract. Economist Adam Smith, who made a distinction between
public (state government) and private (market) through The Wealth of Nations,
excluded women and children from his discourses. These examples show that even
pertinent philosophers minimised women’s roles and supported discrimination in
public life. In fact, men and women are considered two sides of a single coin.
Both are human beings, as jurisprudence states, there are no men or women in
society, only people. Therefore, if we believe in jurisprudence, we cannot
believe in gender discrimination. For example, a daughter says I am woman, I
want property. However, she dœs not say, I am a person that is why I want
property. When rights are created, there should be users as rights do not exist
in a vacuum. This is the reason for affirmative action—to make woman capable of
using their rights as per jurisprudence. Practically, affirmative action is one
of the instruments to empower women in various areas including political
leadership and representation in decisionmaking. However, this provision is
debatable as some feminists argued against it. Those who favour affirmative
action say that it aims to compensate women for past injustices, provide a level
playing field, ensure diversity and meet the needs for female role models. Those
against say that it impacts the incentive to work harder, reduces general
quality and represents reverse discrimination. Historically, affirmative action
emerged in the USA, from Executive Order 10925 by John F Kennedy and Executive
Order 11246 by Lyndon B Johnson. Internationally, it emerged after the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women 1979
(CEDAW). Since then affirmative action has been adopted in many countries.
Currently, about 100 out of 193 UN member states have introduced some kind of
quota provisions for women in parliamentary leadership and representation in
various areas. Democratisation, globalisation and liberalisation emerged after
the Second World War, especially the post-Cold War period, and emphasised equal
rights for women and men. This is an issue that deserves urgent, and
multi-dimensional, attention in all sectors in many countries, especially
developing nations like Nepal, Bangladesh and India. Some initiatives, like the
Beijing + 5, promoted equal rights, opportunities and access to resources and
the equal sharing of responsibilities between men and women in the family. Women
empowerment is an essential instrument to provide equality in holistic areas
between men and women but women need to be emphasised in some key areas, which
is one of the core agendas of the 21st century, under the UN umbrella. Nepal has
adopted many legal frameworks at national level, especially after the 1990s as
before that there were many discriminatory provisions like daughters had no
right to ancestral property. The Constitution of Nepal 1990 articulated many
provisions in favour of women, including affirmative action. Presently, the
Interim Constitution of Nepal has stressed that no discrimination of any kind
shall be made against women. Likewise, every woman shall have the right to
reproductive health and no woman shall be subjected to physical, mental or any
other kind of violence. Such acts are punishable by law. Moreover, sons and
daughters shall have equal rights to ancestral property. Article 21 of the
Interim Constitution also stresses that economically, socially or educationally
backward women shall have the right to take part in the state structures on the
basis of proportional inclusion. In addition to these constitutional provisions,
many legal frameworks like Section 4(3) of the Children Act 2048 stresses proper
health care for pregnant women and women in the post-natal stage. Moreover, the
Civil Service Act 2049 and Regulation 2050 respect reproductive rights and
provide privileges to women employees. Pregnant civil servants are granted
maternity leave for sixty days before and after delivery with full remuneration
for two infants within the service period. Similarly, Section 42 of the Labour
Act 2048 has made some special provisions for women workers. For example, an
enterprise with more than fifty female workers needs to provide a separate room
for the use of their children, a trained nurse and female workers will need to
be provided necessary time to feed their suckling babies. Furthermore, the Nepal
Health Service Act 2053 and Regulation 2055, Local Self Governance Regulation
2056, Education Regulation 2059 and Parliamentary Service Act 2052 have provided
affirmative privileges to women employee in many areas. These affirmative
actions adopted after the 1990s, therefore, provide support for women and ensure
gender neutrality in various areas. There are, however, still some barriers like
orthodox socio-cultural values, weak implementation and a lack of monitoring and
commitment.
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