The rights of women are an inalienable, integral, and indivisible part of universal human rights. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, women perform an estimated 60 percent of the world's total work but receive only 10 percent of the world's income and own a mere 1 percent of the world's land. They constitute nearly 60 percent of world's poor. Recent attempts at structural adjustments and economic liberalization have led to further marginalization of women and an increasing feminization of poverty, particularly in the developing countries. India is no exception to these trends.Gender equality is at the very heart of human rights and United Nations values.