Provisions in the Constitution of India, Legislations, Policies, Reports, and Judgements Article(s) of the CEDAW Note 1: “Health” has also exploitation.7 been specifically dealt with in Chapter- 5. 7. A. 48: Organisation of agriculture and animal husbandry—The State shall endeavour to organise agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines and shall, in particular, take steps for preserving and improving the breeds, and prohibiting the slaughter, of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle.8 Note 2: “Marriage” has also been specifically dealt with in Chapter - 6. Note 3: Issues related to education and employment of women in rural areas have also been dealt with in Chapter 4. 8. A. 243D: Reservation of seats for women in Panchayats. (Supra: Chapter 3) LEGISLATIONS: 1. Hindu Succession Act, 1956 • Section 4: has been amended in 2005 by omitting S 4(2) of Hindu Succession Act (which prevented application of HSA to the fragmentation of agriculture holdings). • Succession to agricultural land (which apply to all irrespective of their religion), is governed by State laws. However, the laws of several States deny women the right to own/ inherit agricultural land. After the amendment of 2005, some states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra have equalized the inheritance rights of women for agricultural (rural) lands and extends coparcenary rights at birth to daughters. 2. Land tenure and usage rights: Each State has its own laws on land holding & tenancy, agriculture, mortgages, land usage rights and ownership of agricultural land. Women are generally not recognized as tenants as per the definition in these laws. 95 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women Gaps in the implementation of CEDAW in India (G) and its corresponding recommendations (R) G5: Violence against women particularly community sanctioned violence (Khap panchayat, branding and witch hunting) is still prevalent in rural areas and targets mainly women belonging to SC/ST communities. [CEDAW A. 14(1)] R5: State Parties to take strict penal action against the perpetrators to deter public from committing such acts. Awareness about the rights of women, accessible justice delivery system including One Stop Centres (OSCs)9 in rural areas. Gender and caste sensitization programmes for the police personnel especially in the rural areas should be conducted. G6: MGNREGA i. The Act provides for