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 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1993, defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm, or suffering to women

It is unfortunate that a measure of confusion has set in about the precise nature and ramifications regarding the immolation - whether self, sati, or otherwise of the 55-yearold Charan Shah on the funeral pyre of her husband at Satpura in Uttar Pradesh on November 11.