Recasting Citizenship for Development - File UPI

358 SHOBHITA RAJAGOPAL
specific social and cultural context in which the women live, and the way
they seek to accommodate, adapt to or challenge the gender constraints
faced by them.
It is evident that the DPIP had given women an opportunity to work
from their own homes. Since they have some income in hand and are
contributing to their households, there is a sense of greater self-reliance.
The monthly savings have given women some sense of security, and
reduced their dependence on the moneylender. Nevertheless, achieving
self-reliance is severely undermined by the practice of purdah and the
restrictions on mobility in the public domain. This has also been recognised
as a central factor contributing to the subordinate status of women
in Rajasthan. The women said that before they joined the CIG, most of
them observed purdah and could not talk to outsiders, especially men.
But now, while they have to observe purdah in front of kin, during the
meetings and other interactions they do not strictly adhere to it.
The issue of increased mobility figured commonly across women’s
CIGs. Some women stated that they have now started going to the market
on their own to purchase raw materials. Earlier, a male member used
to accompany them. ‘People used to make fun of us whenever we used to
go to the marketplace as “outside” roles are meant for men and not for
“illiterate women”.’ The chairperson and treasurer of the CIGs have also
gone out of the village to attend meetings and training programmes, often
accompanied by a male escort. It is evident that women are allowed to go
by themselves to neighbouring areas. However, accessing markets at a
distance continues to be a male prerogative. A few women have also had
to face violence when they stayed away from home to participate in a project
activity.
It is also evident that while gender asymmetries in decision-making
had not changed drastically, the women now had a greater voice in household
decision-making, and that at the household level, men did consult
them. However, they also shared with us that while men can take decisions
without their consent, women do not have the freedom to do so. Women
CIG members in Baran district responded: ‘If men spend the money earned
from selling the milk on alcohol, we cannot interfere, as it is an age-old
practice. We have to accept the situation’ (personal communication).
An analysis of how women had used the income generated from the
SPA reveals that it has largely been for household consumption, repairing
the house, purchase of livestock, and purchasing clothes (this is mostly