Profile of Women in Gujrat

The Women's Studies Research Centre (WSRC) at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda was established in July 1990 with the support of the University Grants Commission (UGC). It became a permanent and integral part of the university system in April 1997 when the Government of Gujarat committed itself to taking over the responsibility of the Centre. WSRC's goal is to open up windows to gender with reference to teaching, research, outreach and documentation. It works towards: Incorporation of a gender perspective in mainstream disciplines through courses, seminars, workshops and curriculum development programs with university departments and gender sensitisation training to government agencies. Facilitation of short and long-term interdisciplinary research projects, including action research and policy studies. Creation of networks of organizations working with women in the state. Provision of resource materials - audio visual and print on a wide range of topics to support students, academics, researchers and non-government organizations in their teaching, training, research and extension activities. Various dimensions of women's lives, such as health and nutrition, economic status, education and training, environment, housing, energy and the law have formed the terrain of its activities.

This volume is the outcome of a project entitled "Profile of Women in Gujarat", which was initiated in 1997 by the former Vice Chancellor of M.S. University of Baroda, Smt. Padma Ramachandran, as part of the University's Golden Jubilee Celebrations. The project was initiated out of concern for the lack of information on different aspects of women's lives in Gujarat for more effective planning and implementation of policies and programmes for their welfare and development in the state. The Women's Studies Research Centre (WSRC), M. S. University of Baroda, co-ordinated and implemented the project. As the aim of the project was to provide a holistic picture of the state of women in Gujarat, a multidisciplinary team, comprising the faculty of various university departments worked together to compile data from varied sources, which included available government statistics and publications, and research studies, as well as collected primary data to fill existing gaps in the information collected. The papers compiled in this volume discuss a range of topics from the areas of demography, health, nutrition, socio-economic development, habitat, family studies, violence, media, literature, development and welfare policies and programmes for women. The project was completed in 2000, but we have made all efforts to update, wherever possible, the information with the latest data available. We hope this volume is useful to researchers, policy makers, programme planners and implementers, and all those who are interested in the welfare and development of women. We thank all those who contributed to making this volume possible.

**Contents and Sample Pages**