Women are the pioneers of the race. Indian culture gives great importance to women who constitute half of the world's population. According to the United Nations Secretary General's report, women constitute 50% of the human resources, the greatest human resource second only to men with great potential.

Women are critical to sustainable development and quality of life in the family. The types of roles women assume in the family are wife, leader, manager, manager of family income and last but not least mother.

1 As a mother:

The entire burden of bearing children and the majority of child rearing is carried out by the woman of the family. She is primarily responsible for the child's self-control, orderliness, hard work, thieving or honesty. Her contacts with the child during the most formative period of his development form his pattern of behavior. Thus she is responsible for maintaining utmost discipline in the family.

She is the child's first teacher. She transmits the social heritage to the child. From the mother the child learns racial laws, men's manners, moral codes and ideals. The mother, by virtue of her close and constant contact with the child, is able to discover and nurture the child's special qualities, which subsequently play a vital role in shaping his personality.

As a mother she is the family health officer. She is deeply concerned about the physical well-being of every member of the family, the helpless infant, the sick child, the adolescent youth, the aging parent. She manages the household and its activities to ensure that every member of the family has proper food, enough sleep and enough entertainment. Through her talent she has made the home a very comfortable and appropriate setting for the children. Moreover, she inculcates taste in interior design and arrangement so that the home becomes an inviting, relaxing and cheerful place.

The mother is the central figure of the home and family circle. All members turn to her for sympathy, understanding and recognition. A woman devotes her time, effort and thought to the welfare of family members. For the union of mutual personalities, the man provides ceremony and atmosphere to the woman of the temple.

2. As wife:

Woman is man's helper, partner and companion. She sacrifices her personal happiness and ambitions, sets the standards of morality, relieves pressure and stress, relieves the stress of her husband, maintains peace and order in the home. She thereby creates the necessary environment for her male partner to think more about the family's economic development. She is a source of inspiration to man for higher endeavors and worthwhile achievements in life.

She stands by him in all crises as well as shares her triumphs and triumphs with him. She is the person he turns to for love, sympathy, understanding, comfort and recognition. She is a symbol of purity, faith and submission and devotion to her husband.

3. As an administrator and household leader:

A well-disciplined household is essential for a normal family life. The woman of the family performs this duty. She is the chief executive of a company. She assigns tasks to family members according to their interest and abilities and provides resources for equipment and materials to accomplish the job.

She plays a vital role in the preparation and serving of meals, selection and care of clothing, laundry, furnishing and housekeeping. As an administrator, she organizes various social programs in the family for social development. She also serves as Recreation Director. She plans various recreational activities to cater to the needs of the young and old in the family

4. As manager of family income:

A woman acts as a modest manager of the family income. Her responsibility is to get maximum return from every penny spent. She always prefers to prepare a surplus budget instead of a deficit budget. She calculates profit and loss a lot when spending money. She intelligently distributes income on different heads like necessities, comforts and luxuries. The woman in the family also contributes to the family income through her own earnings inside or outside the home. Her work has a positive contribution to the family income. She herself performs at home and uses waste products for productive purposes.

A woman performs the roles of wife, partner, organizer, administrator, director, re-creator, disburser, economist, mother, disciplinarian, teacher, health officer, artist and queen at the same time in the family. Apart from that, women play a vital role in the socio-economic development of the society.

Modern education and modern economic life force women more and more to leave the narrow sphere of the family circle and work side by side for the betterment of society. She can be a member of any women's organization and initiate various programs like literacy program for adult education, education for disadvantaged girls etc.

The purpose of introducing such a literacy program is to raise society through education to enable women to respond to opportunities, challenge their traditional roles and change their living conditions. Education is the most important tool for human resource development.

Women are key to sustainable development and quality of life. So they should be members of a community center or club to spread knowledge about handicrafts, cottage industries, food preservation and low cost nutrition to people of low socioeconomic status for their economic upliftment. They should act as leaders of society against violence against women, exploitation at home as well as workplace, dowry prohibition superstitions and other social evils.

They should be members of a religious organization to give spiritual discourse to adolescent boys and girls to eliminate the problem of juvenile delinquency from the society. In addition, they play a vital role in pre- and post-marriage counseling of the adolescent girl regarding sexually transmitted diseases. AIDS and other infectious diseases. They should create awareness about human rights, rights of women and children, bank loan facility, various preventive programs for people from lower socio economic status of the society.

Moreover, it is women who sustain the development of society and shape the future of nations. In the evolving complex social scenario, women have to play a vital role in various fields. They are no longer regarded as mere messengers of peace but are emerging as a source of strength and a symbol of progress.

Role of Women in Family and Society