Get summaries, questions, answers, solutions, notes, extras, PDF and guide of Chapter 15 Women and Child Welfare, NBSE Class 9 Environmental Education textbook, which is part of the syllabus of students studying under Nagaland Board. These solutions, however, should only be treated as references and can be modified/changed.
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Summary
In the past, women and girls faced a lot of hardship. Many were denied education and basic needs. Some parents even killed girl babies before birth or ignored their health and learning. Earlier, in the Vedic period, women had equal rights and education. But later, their condition worsened.
Now, the government is working to improve the lives of women. Free education is provided in many states. Women are taking part in jobs like teaching, science, and medicine. Many plans and schemes support women. These include Swayamsidha, which helps women through self-help groups, and Swashakti, which gives health services and skill training. Other schemes like Swavlamban and Swadhar offer job skills and help to women in need. Hostels are built for working women. Rashtriya Mahila Kosh provides small loans. Mission Shakti works for safety and growth of women.
There are many laws to protect women. These include laws against dowry, domestic violence, and workplace harassment. Women have rights to equal pay, safe work, and maternity benefits. There are also laws to protect Muslim women and to stop sex selection and abortion of girl children.
Women are also active in protecting the environment. In the Chipko Movement, Amrita Devi and others hugged trees to stop them from being cut. She gave her life for the trees. Her last words meant that a life is worth less than a tree. This shows the deep love for nature. Women in the Himalayas also stopped logging through peaceful protests. In Kenya, Wangari Maathai started the Green Belt Movement. Women planted trees and improved both the environment and their lives.
Children also need care and support. Many face violence, child labour, abuse and early marriage. Child welfare means keeping children safe, healthy and happy. The government has passed laws like the Juvenile Justice Act, Child Marriage Act, and Child Labour Act. Schemes like Mid-Day Meal, ICDS, Sabla, and PM CARES support children’s health, food and education. Children have rights to survival, protection, development, and participation.
UNICEF also helps children by giving food and care. Many schemes aim to help street children, working children, and girls. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao encourages people to save and educate girl children. The government is working to stop child labour and support children in need.
These efforts help make sure women and children live safe, healthy and strong lives.
Textbook solutions
Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)
1. Chipko Movement is the movement of:
A. An animal
B. Women’s movement
C. Both (a) and (b)
D. None of these
Answer: B. Women’s movement
2. Hindu Marriage Act was formed in:
A. 1966
B. 1970
C. 1955
D. 1960
Answer: C. 1955
3. When did UNICEF become a permanent part of the United Nations?
A. 1950
B. 1960
C. 1952
D. 1953
Answer: D. 1953
Very Short Answer Questions
1. What do you mean by women welfare?
Answer : Women welfare refers to the policies, programs, and practices aimed at improving the social, economic, and political status of women.
2. Write full form of ICDS.
Answer : The full form of ICDS is Integrated Child Development Services.
3. Define Mid-day Meal Scheme.
Answer : The Mid-day Meal Scheme is a government initiative in India aimed at providing free meals to children in primary and upper primary schools. It provides hot cooked mid-day meals to children studying in class I to VIII in Government, Government-aided, local body schools, as well as children studying in the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) schools and centres run under the Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS).
Short Answer Questions
1. Explain at least two rights of children.
Answer : (i) Right to Survival: A child’s right to survival begins before a child is born. According to the Government of India, a child’s life begins after twenty weeks of conception. Hence, the right to survival is inclusive of the child’s rights to be born, the right to minimum standards of food, shelter, and clothing, and the right to live with dignity.
(ii) Right to Development: Children have the right to all forms of development: Emotional, Mental, and Physical. Emotional development is fulfilled by proper care and love of a support system, mental development through education and learning, and physical development through recreation, play, and nutrition.
2. What do you mean by Integrated Child Development Services?
Answer : Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) is a government program in India aimed at improving the nutritional and health status of children under the age of six and promoting childhood education. It was launched in 1975 with the following objectives: to improve the nutritional and health status of children in the age group 0-6 years; to lay the foundation for proper psychological, physical, and social development of the child; to reduce the incidence of mortality, morbidity, malnutrition, and school dropout. The services provided include supplementary nutrition, immunization, regular health check-ups, pre-school non-formal education, and nutrition and health education.
3. Write three child welfare schemes and explain them.
Answer : (i) Mid-Day Meal Scheme : Mid-day meal scheme is a government initiative in India aimed at providing free meals to children in primary and upper primary schools. It provides hot cooked mid-day meals to children studying in class I to VIII in Government, Government-aided, local body schools, as well as children studying in the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) schools and centres run under the Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS).
(ii) Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) : ICDS is a government program aimed at improving the nutritional and health status of children under the age of six and promoting childhood education. It provides an integrated package of services including supplementary nutrition, immunization, regular health check-ups, pre-school non-formal education, and nutrition and health education.
(iii) Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana : Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana is a small deposit scheme for the girl child, launched as a part of the ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ campaign, which fetches an attractive interest rate and provides income tax rebate.
4. Write a note on women’s rights.
Answer : Women’s rights are protected and promoted through various legislations in India. These include:
- Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (2005), which is a comprehensive legislation to protect women from all forms of domestic violence, covering women in relationships with abusers who are subjected to any kind of violence—physical, sexual, mental, verbal, or emotional.
- Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act (1986), which prohibits indecent representation of women through advertisements, publications, writings, paintings, figures, or in any other manner.
- Dowry Prohibition Act (1961), which prohibits the giving or taking of dowry at or before or any time after marriage.
- Maternity Benefit Act (1961), which regulates the employment of women in certain establishments for a period before and after childbirth and provides for maternity benefits and other related benefits.
- Equal Remuneration Act (1976), which ensures equal remuneration for men and women workers for the same work or work of a similar nature and prevents discrimination based on sex against women in recruitment and service conditions.
- Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act (1994), which prohibits sex selection before or after conception and prevents the misuse of prenatal diagnostic techniques for sex determination leading to female foeticide.
- Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act (2013), which provides protection to women from sexual harassment at all workplaces, both in public and private sectors, whether organized or unorganized.
These legislations aim to safeguard women from various forms of exploitation, ensure their safety, and promote gender equality.
5. Write a note on children’s rights.
Answer : Children’s rights include the right to survival, protection, participation, and development. According to the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS), child protection involves keeping children safe from risks or harmful situations and recognizing their vulnerability.
- Right to Survival : A child’s right to survival begins before birth and includes the right to be born, access to minimum standards of food, shelter, clothing, and the right to live with dignity.
- Right to Protection : Children have the right to be protected from neglect, exploitation, and abuse at home and elsewhere.
- Right to Participation : Children have the right to participate in decision-making processes that involve them directly or indirectly, depending on their age and maturity.
- Right to Development : This ensures emotional, mental, and physical development through proper care, education, recreation, play, and nutrition.
Other rights include equality (Article 14), protection against discrimination (Article 15), personal liberty and due process of law (Article 21), protection from trafficking and forced bonded labor (Article 23), protection for minorities (Article 29), protection for weaker sections from social injustice and exploitation (Article 46), and the right to nutrition, standard of living, and improved public health (Article 47).
Long Answer Questions
1. What do you mean by women welfare? Describe schemes launched by the government in the favour of women.
Answer : Women welfare refers to the policies, programs, and practices aimed at improving the social, economic, and political status of women.
The schemes launched by the government in favor of women include:
- Swayamsidha : Swayamsidha is an integrated scheme for the development and empowerment of women through self-help groups. It covers services, access to microcredit, and promotes microenterprises.
- Swashakti Project : Swashakti Project aims at increasing women’s access to resources for better quality of life through the use of time reduction devices, by providing health and education services, and by imparting skills to women for income-generating activities.
- Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women : This scheme provides new skills and knowledge to poor assetless women in agriculture, animal husbandry, dairying, fisheries, sericulture, handlooms, handicrafts, khadi, and village industry sectors of employment.
- Swavlamban : This scheme provides training and skills to women to enable them to obtain employment or become self-employed. The trades in which training is imparted include computer programming, medical transcription, electronic assembling, electronics, radio and TV repairs, garment making, handloom weaving, handicrafts, secretarial practice, embroidery, and community health.
- Hostels for Working Women : Under this scheme, financial assistance is provided for construction and expansion of hostel buildings for working women. It also includes provisions for safe and affordable accommodation to working women (single or married), those getting training for employment, and girl students studying in professional courses.
- Swadhar : This scheme provides integrated services to women without support from their families such as widows living at Vrindavan and Kashi; prisoners released from jail; survivors of natural calamities; women/girls rescued from brothels and other places; victims of sexual crimes, etc. The scheme includes such services as food, clothing, shelters, healthcare, counselling, legal aid, and rehabilitation through education awareness, skill formation, and behavioral training.
- Rashtriya Mahila Kosh : The National Credit Fund for Women is meant to facilitate credit support or microfinance to poor women to start income-generating schemes such as agriculture, dairying, shop-keeping, vending, and handicrafts.
- Mission Shakti : The Government of India launched ‘Mission Shakti’—an integrated women empowerment programme as an umbrella scheme for the safety, security, and empowerment of women for implementation during the 15th Finance Commission period. Mission Shakti has two sub-schemes—’Sambal’ and ‘Samarthya’. While the “Sambal” sub-scheme is for the safety and security of women, the “Samarthya” sub-scheme is for the empowerment of women.
Extras
Additional questions and answers
1. Define women welfare.
Answer : Women welfare refers to the policies, programs, and practices aimed at improving the social, economic, and political status of women.
39. Discuss the initiatives undertaken by the government to eliminate child labour in India.
Answer : The elimination of child labour is being implemented by the Ministry of Labour, which sanctions projects for the rehabilitation of working children and for the elimination of child labour. The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal for amending the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, to ban the employment of children aged up to 14 in any form of industry. It will be an offense to employ such children not only in factories or industries but also in homes or on farms if their labour is meant to serve any commercial interest. The amendment will also impose a blanket ban on employing children below 18 years in hazardous industries like mines, explosives, and hazardous occupations set forth in the Factories Act, 1948.
Additional MCQs
1. What is the main aim of women welfare?
A. Enhancing male education
B. Promoting industrial development
C. Improving women’s social status
D. Limiting female employment
Answer: C. Improving women’s social status
38. Which scheme was launched on January 22, 2015?
A. ICDS
B. Mid-Day Meal Scheme
C. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao
D. PM CARES for Children
Answer: C. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao
Ron’e Dutta is a journalist, teacher, aspiring novelist, and blogger who manages Online Free Notes. An avid reader of Victorian literature, his favourite book is Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. He dreams of travelling the world. You can connect with him on social media. He does personal writing on ronism.
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