Gender Inequality

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In recent 14th Census 2001, the states with lowest decadal growth recorded are Kerala (9.42 per cent), Tamil Nadu (11.19 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (13.86 per cent), and Goa (14.89 per cent). Both Kerala and Tamil Nadu show a better rate of literacy than Andhra Pradesh. In Goa, the majority of population consists of Christians and so women enjoy a higher degree of liberty than those of other states. But the case of Andhra Pradesh is unique. It is less industrialized and has less literary rate than Tamil Nadu. Yet it has shown the sharpest decline in population growth rate among all the states (10.34 per cent). The average annual exponential growth rate has declined to 1.93 per cent in 1991-2001 from 2.14 per cent in 1981-1991. The total population of Andhra Pradesh as at 00:00 hrs of 1st March, 2001 stood at 75,727,541 as per Provincial Census of India, 2001. A radical change has taken place in the family life of the women of rural Andhra Pradesh because of the scheme of DWCRA, which empowered them. Andhra Pradesh occupies the fifth place in population as against the fourth in the previous Census of India. During 1981-1991, this state witnessed an increase of 24.20 per cent in population, which came down to 13.86 per cent during 1991-2001 while the country’s decadal growth rate is 21.34 per cent. This achievement of Andhra Pradesh is spectacular.
The State of Andhra Pradesh has every right to claim the credits of the statistics of Census of India, 2001 for its performance regarding the population control in India as it is in the forefront of empowering women in the state by means of DWCRA. Presently, 4,20,000 DWCRA groups are working only in Andhra Pradesh, which is more than 40 percent of the total DWCRA groups in India. The main highlights of the DWCRA are: the women members of DWCRA form a group of 10 to 15 women at the village level for delivery of services like credit and skill training, cash and infrastructure supp...