Centre for Women's Development Studies

The Centre for Women’s Development Studies(CWDS) was established on 19th April 1980, in the middle of the International Women’s Decade, by a group of men and women, who were involved in the preparation of the first ever comprehensive government report on the ‘Status of Women in India’ entitled‘Towards Equality’ (Report of the Committee on the Status of Women in India, (CSWI), Government of India) and who were later associated with the Women’s Studies Programme of the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR). The Advisory Committee on Women's Studies of the ICSSR recommended the need for an autonomous institute to build on the knowledge already generated, but with a wider mandate and resources to expand its activities in research and action. The recommendation was accepted by the ICSSR, and communicated to the Women’s Bureau of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Government of India. few months later, under the leadership of late Prof. J.P. Naik, the CWDS was registered under the Societies’ Registration Act, 1860 in New Delhi and started functioning since May 1980, with a small financial grant from the Vikram Sarabhai Foundation, under the Chairpersonship of Dr. Phulrenu Guha and Dr. Vina Mazumdar as the Director.
In 1984-85, on the recommendation of a visiting committee appointed by the Indian Council of Social Science Research, CWDS began to receive an annual maintenance grant from the ICSSR and became recognised as one of the Research Institutes supported by ICSSR.

Address: 25, BHAI VIR SINGH MARG(GOLE MARKET)NEW DELHI - 110001, INDIA.

Tel: +91-11-23365541

Fax: +91-11-23346044

Email Id: cwds@cwds.ac.in

Website: http://www.cwds.ac.in

Paper Type:

Homebased Work in 21st Century

There are many theories and approaches to study the home asked is whether these approaches actually reflect the experiences of the majority of homebased workers in India or was the field of theorisa...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Indrani Mazumdar | On 01 May 2018

Women in Politics and the Subject of Reservations

This paper, however, demonstrates that the effective history of thinking about political representation in the form of reservations for women is as old as the women’s movement itself. Feminist enga...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Mary E. John | On 01 Aug 2017

Is Domestic Violence a Lesser Crime? Countering the Backlash against Section 498A, IPC

The situation today is that domestic violence is treated as a `social crime’ when compared with violence by strangers, even though it is much more severe in nature. Why is wife beating considered as a...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Shalu Nigam | On 01 Jan 2017

Women in NREGA: Issues of Child Care

The present study on evaluation of the NREGA Scheme is intended to assess the impact of this scheme on the status of child care services at worksites of the NREGA, status of facilities available to wo...

Section: Research Papers

by Madhuri Karak | On 01 Jan 2015

Unfree Mobility: Adivasi Women's Migration

Tribal community practices and cultures, particularly the lack of traditional restrictions on women’s work and labour, have indeed been a significant factor in bringing larger proportions of tribal w...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Indrani Mazumdar | On 01 Apr 2014

Unfree Mobility: Adivasi Women’s Migration

On a hot summer’s day in 1982, while walking through a jungle path in Bankura, West Bengal, anthropologist Narayan Banerjee asked an old Santhal woman who was accompanying him to narrate her experie...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Indrani Mazumdar | On 01 Apr 2014

Inequalities Reinforced? Social Groups, Gender and Employment

Based on the last four rounds of NSS data the study explores some dimensions of women’s labour market participation across social groups. [CWDS Occasional Paper No.59]. URL:[http://www.cwds.ac.in/OCPa...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Neetha N | On 01 Jan 2013

Women in Indian Engineering: A Preliminary Analysis of Data from the Graduate Level Engineering Education Field in Kerala and Rajasthan

Are there substantial changes in the relationship between women and engineering in recent times? This is a fascinating question to explore especially since it has been so little studies especially in...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Sreelekha Nair | On 03 Mar 2012

Gender and Migration: Negotiating Rights - A Women's Movement Perspective

This research responds to the growing demand by mass organizations, for better documentation of women’s migration in India amid reports from activists of great increases in and new and more vulnerable...

Section: Research Papers

by Indu Agnihotri | On 01 Mar 2012

Gender Dimensions: Employment Trends in India, 1993-94 to 2009-10

This paper examines some of the explicit as well as not so explicit trends in relation to women’s employment in India from 1993-94 till 2009-10 and argues that they indicate a grave and continuing...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Indrani Mazumdar | On 10 Aug 2011

Gender, Governance and Women’s Rights in South Asia

This study focuses on gender equality and democratic governance in the five largest states of the South Asian region, namely, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Beginning with a general...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Seema Kazi | On 01 Jun 2011

Globalization and the Women’s Movement in India

From the early 1990s, the principal economic, social and political problems experienced by the mass of Indian women have, in one way or another, become inextricably linked with the processes and pol...

Section: Seminar reports

by Centre for Women's Development Studies | On 28 Mar 2011

From Invalidation and Segregation to Recognition and Integration: Contemporary State Responses to Disability in India

This paper traces the engagement of the Indian state with the issue of disability over the past three decades as a discourse of charity and welfare gives way to one of equality and human rights. Using...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Renu Addlakha | On 22 Sep 2010

New Reproductive Technologies and Health Care in Neo-liberal India: Essays

This paper contains essays on New Reproductive Technologies and Health Care in Neo-Liberal India. URL: [http://www.cwds.ac.in/OCPaper/Monograph-Imrana.pdf]

Section: Occasional Monograph Series

by Imrana Qadeer | On 02 May 2010

Study on Conditions and Needs of Women Workers in Delhi

Study on the needs and conditions of women workers in Delhi must begin its enquiry with the initial problem of poor availability of employment or access to economic activity/work for women in the cap...

Section: Research Papers

by Neetha N | On 01 Feb 2010

Of-Meta Narratives and 'Master' Paradigms: Sexuality and Reification of Women in Early India

The paper analyzes the past and present condition of women in India.

Section: Occasional Papers

by Uma Chakravarti | On 22 Dec 2009

Sifting, Selecting, Relocating: Citizenship at the Commencement of Republic

The date of the enforcement of the Constitution, 26th January 1950, marked a crucial change in the legal status of the people of India. They were no longer British subjects, but citizens of the Repu...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Anupama Roy | On 22 Dec 2009

Women's Work in the Post Reform Period: An Exploration of Macro Data

Development within the framework of economic reforms is often equated to growth rates which are highlighted as the only solution to all problems – be it poverty, unemployment or inequalities based...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Neetha N | On 21 Sep 2009

The National Commission For Women: Assessing Performance

Although a lot of scholarly attention has gone into issues concerning women for more than three decades, little work has been done on the evolution and functioning of institutions1 that have been cr...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Sadhna Arya | On 16 Jul 2009

Gender, Subjectivity and Sexual Identity : How young people with Disabilities Conceptualise the Body, Sex and Marriage in Urban India

Using qualitative data, this paper discusses notions of sexual identity among urban Indian youth through case studies of college students in Delhi. Gender emerges as a key analytical category in perce...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Renu Addlakha | On 18 Jun 2009

Women, Paid Work and Empowerment in India: A Review of Evidence and Issues

The paper is an attempt to review critically the association between women’s paid work and empowerment in India. As a prelude, the author seek to assess the extent of women’s participation in paid wor...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Sunny Jose | On 15 Jun 2009

Educating Women and Non-Brahmins as 'Loss of Nationality' : Bal Gangadhar Tilak and the Nationalist Agenda in Maharashtra

This paper deals with the nationalist discourse in Maharashtra spanning over forty years. This discourse argued that educating women and non-Brahmins would amount to a loss of nationality. The nationa...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Parimala V Rao | On 11 Jun 2009

Archiving the Nation –State in Feminist Praxis: A South Asian Perspective

This essay mainly examines the relationship between feminism and nationalism as a point from which it looks at South Asian feminist scholarship. The historical circumstances in their respective countr...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Uma Chakravarti | On 03 Sep 2008

Women’s Work in the Post Reform Period: An Exploration of Macro Data

An important aspect that is often highlighted in the context of economic reforms, is the translation of labour market changes into defining or redefining gender relations and empowerment of women. In...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Neetha N | On 19 Aug 2008

Interactions between Policy Assumptions and Rural Women’s Work –A Case Study

This paper is mainly concerned about the approaches to rural women’s development and an understanding of their work roles in the planning strategies. Changes in the economic and social participation o...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Kumud Sharma | On 15 Jun 2008

Archiving the Nation-State in Feminist Praxis: A South Asian Perspective

This essay mainly examines the relationship between feminism and nationalism as a point from which it looks at South Asian feminist scholarship. The historical circumstances in their respective countr...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Uma Chakravarti | On 01 Jan 2008

Shariat Courts and Women’s Rights in India

The main thrust of this paper is: Why should women go to these courts to settle matrimonial disputes while there are provisions for them in secular courts? Do women face less harassment and get quic...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Sabiha Hussain | On 05 Nov 2007

Democratic Citizenship: From Proportionality to a Continuum Approach to Political Participation

This paper is an attempt to explore the meaning and significance of political participation within (a) the conceptual framework of democratic citizenship and (b) debates surrounding representative d...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Anupama Roy | On 10 Dec 2006

Muslim Women’s Rights Discourse in the Pre independece Period

The present paper deals with the discourse of the rights of Muslim women in the pre- independence period with particular reference to the Shariat Act 1937 and the Muslim Marriage Dissolution Act 193...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Sabiha Hussain | On 20 Nov 2006

A Profession on the Margins: Status Issues in Indian Nursing

This joint paper attempts an unusual collaborative approach that offers an understanding of the problems that registered nurses of India have faced. Through this paper, the problem of ‘social status’...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Sreelekha Nair | On 10 Nov 2006

Women's Movements Engagement With the Law: Existing Contradictions and Emerging Challenges

Through over a century-long history, the women’s movement in India has been engaged with law as an instrument with which to negotiate women’s rights. To a great extent this strategy has been successf...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Centre for Women's Development Studies | On 21 Mar 2006

Identity Formation, Nationhood and Women An Overview of Issues

The essay is begun with a reference to a television programme on one of the Hindi news channels - titled Burqe me Atankvad which was telecast sometime in mid-2005. The complex and turmoil-ridden and ...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Vasanthi Raman | On 21 Jan 2006

Regional Analysis of Gender-Related Development: Districts of Western India

In this paper the diverse dimensions of gender development are examined using individual indicators for the districts of the western region of India. The western region for the purpose of this study...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Preet Rustagi | On 24 Nov 2005

Women in Self Help Groups and Panchayti Raj Institutions: Suggesting Synergistic Linkages

Questions about the processes of empowerment generated under each of these interventions and also suggests synergistic linkages between the two are raised.

Section: Occasional Papers

by Joy Deshmukh Ranadive | On 13 Nov 2005

Approach Paper: Vulnerabilities of Women Homebased Workers`

This paper focuses on homebased women workers and discusses the specific issues of their vulnerability as women and as workers, in the framework of their basic citizenship right to economic and soci...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Indrani Mazumdar | On 26 Jun 2005

Context and Dynamics of Civil Society in the 21st Century

The gap between the world of knowledge and the world of action, although perennial, is probably the widest in the area of development. In no other field is there such a sharp divergence between rati...

Section: General

by Centre for Women's Development Studies | On 23 Feb 2002

Women’s Experience in New Panchayats: The Emerging Leadership of Rural Women

This paper presents some of the findings of our recent study on women’s representation and participation in panchayats. Some of the findings of the study (Buch; 1999) of women in panchayats after the...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Nirmala Buch | On 04 Dec 2000

Gender Development Indicators: Issues, Debates and Ranking of Districts

The present study emphasizes on independent variable analysis in assessing gender development at the disaggregated district level to account for problems such as the major contradiction facing this c...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Preet Rustagi | On 03 Jun 2000

Women and Indian Nationalism

The political role of women as a subject for research is of recent origin in India. It is significant that there are so few studies of women's role in the nationalist movement or of the implications-...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Leela Kasturi | On 17 Sep 1994

Grassroot Empowerment (1975-1990): A Discussion Paper

The discussion focusses on women in poverty their concentration in rural and urban areas, and the organisational approach for their mobilization and empowerment. Maximum emphasis has been placed on...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Narayana K Banerjee | On 17 May 1994

Peasant Women Organise For Empowerment: The Bankura Experiment

Organisations are accepted as an instrument to provide collective strength, or greater bargaining power, or to articulate the voice of an interest group. They may also be recognised as a constituenc...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Vina Mazumdar | On 15 Sep 1989

Human Dilemma of Technological Progress: Women, Technology and Employment

Science and technology have continuously enlarged the frontiers of human knowledge, growth and development. The issue which keeps surfacing time and again and needs to be addressed while planning ou...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Kumud Sharma | On 15 Sep 1988

Constitutional Guarantees: The Unequal Sex

Long before Independence, the theme on which Gandhiji wrote repeatedly, was the need to improve the status of Indian women. He drew attention to the fact that the woman was ‘not only.... condemned t...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Lotika Sarkar | On 14 Sep 1986

Post-Independence Educational Development among Women in India

This paper aims to examine the policy debates on women's education and highlight some of the basic issues affecting the progress of women's education since the introduction of planned development in...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Balaji Pandey | On 08 Feb 1986

Women, Participation and Development: A Case Study from West Bengal

The importance of Women's Organisations for bringing women within reach of the development process is a recognised policy for women's development in India. However, nature and functional role of suc...

Section: Occasional Papers

by Narayan K. Banerjee | On 14 Sep 1985

Interactions between Policy Assumptions and Rural Women's Work - A Case Study

The concern of this paper is limited to the approaches to rural women's development and an understanding of their work roles in the planning strategies. [CWDS Working paper].

Section: Occasional Papers

by Kumud Sharma | On 01 Jan 1985

Situation of Women in South Asia: Some Dimensions

South Asian women and their status is being assessed here to highlight the similarities in the conditions faced by women despite the diversities stemming from class, religion, culture and locality. Th...

Section: Research Papers

by Preeti Rustagi | On 01 Jan 1900