Gender in Reproductive and Child Health Policy

The ministry of health and family welfare in 1995 initiated the Reproductive and Child Health Policy which claims to be a 'gender-sensitive' policy. The present article deconstructs the notion of gender sensitivity by unpacking the ideological assumptions that underlie the text of the policy. It examines, through a qualitative analysis of documents and interviews with policy-makers, how the state positions women within its discourses of development, health and gender. Further, it also explores the implications of such positioning for women's emancipation.