Jharkhand: ‘Right to property important for empowering women’

RANCHI: The right to property is an important tool for empowering women, especially in developing countries, said Supreme Court judge Justice B V Nagarathna on Saturday. He also said despite reforms in laws to ensure equal rights to women in this regard, disparity still exists in society.
She was delivering a speech on the topic ‘The Evolution of Women’s Right to Property in India: A facet of Empowerment’ during a state-level conference on ‘Women’s Right to Property, Road to Empowerment’ at the Judicial Academy here.
Justice Nagarathna also said India is a land of diversity where property rights are governed by personal laws based on different religions. She stressed that even though the government has implemented legal reforms, the disparity in the inheritance of property is huge, particularly in rural areas.
Suggesting that affirmative action should be taken in this regard, Justice Nagarathna said, “ The state government while allotting land to the weaker section and distributing other largesse, should ensure 30% reservation for women.”
She also said after the amendment in the Hindu Succession Act 2006, the courts have been flooded with cases, showing that women were fighting for their rights.
She added, “It would be a better scenario if both men and women sat together and worked towards settling the matter among themselves to avoid familial discord.”
In his message, which was read out in the conference, Chief Justice of the Jharkhand high court, Justice Ravi Ranjan, said though the entire gamut of laws relating to property rights of women has undergone a change, the change in societal attitude is required so that women are effectively able to access and enjoy their rights.
Addressing the gathering Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh of Jharkhand high court said out of 180 countries in the world, 164 recognize the rights to property for women but only 52 have actually been able to guarantee their rights.
He said that even though many laws have been enacted to bring about social change, what is required is their implementation.