Actor Smriti Kalra visited the Rajya Sabha and new Parliament in Delhi to celebrate the passing of Women Reservation Bill, and she calls it a moment of pride and honour. “It has been a long journey since 1996, when the bill was first presented and it was passed after several attempts.

This study tries to assess through a field based study whether, to what extent, and in what ways the cumulative impact of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) interventions has been able to advance girls education and gender equality outcomes in selected contexts.

The mandate of the Committee was massive, to assess the status of women in India in all aspects of their lives, keeping in mind the diversities (class, caste, religion, ethnicity, region, abilities, age groups etc.), complexities and paradoxes that prevail in our society.

The high female infant mortality rates (Miller, 1985); the practice of female infanticide (Krishnaswamy, 1988); the neglect of female children with regard to access to health services, nutrition, (Sen and Sengupta, 1983 and education (Mankekar, 1985); and the sexual abuse of girls (Bhalerao, 1985