India this year completed its 75th year of Independence, India has come a long way in these 75 years, but are different sectors of the country a part of the freedom and justice that we talk about? Today also some regions continue to lag. For instance, India placed 135th out of 146 nations in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report last month in terms of women’s engagement and gender equality.
What is a Global Gender Gap Report?
This report from the World Economic Forum provides information on the degree of gender equality among nations in terms of political empowerment, economic involvement and opportunity, education, health, and survival.
Each nation is assigned a score between 0 and 1. A higher rating on these factors indicates greater gender equality in that nation. Whereas a lower rating is seen as the opposite.
India is the worst-performing nation in the world in the “health and survival” sub-index. In this index, India is placed 146. And ranks 135 out of a total of 146 nations in the Global Gender Gap Index 2022.
According to the Global Gender Report 2022, which also includes the Gender Gap Index, it will now take 132 years to achieve gender parity, with the gap having reduced by 68.1% but only by four years since 2021. However, given that the gender gap was predicted to shrink within a century based on patterns prior to 2020. This does not make up for the generational loss between 2020 and 2021. Gender parity is predicted to be achieved in South Asia in 197 years, which is the region that will take the longest.
Gender gap is an ever-since talk in the country
Gender equality has been an ever-since talk in the country but the pace of progress is believed to be very slow and unnoticeable and it’s high time we start taking major steps and actions to reduce the gap.
Despite significant expenditure and effort, India’s position is slipping. Gender equality is a topic that is frequently discussed, but we are lagging behind. We are one of South Asia’s three worst-performing nations. Pakistan and Afghanistan come after us. Now is the moment for us to make changes to the situation.
Dr. Shagun Sabharwal, Director- South Asia Region and Global Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning, Womenlift Health, in conversation with TheQuint
In recent decades, India’s sex ratio at birth (SRB) has shifted toward being more masculine.
Women have always been in one way or another faced a barrier when it comes to moving forward in their work sector. Education is probably the only sector where female participation is progressed. But the health sector is a major issue right now with the root cause being the sex ratio at birth.
In recent decades, India’s sex ratio at birth (SRB) has shifted toward being more masculine. Strong son preference, decreased fertility, and the availability and accessibility of sonographic scanning during pregnancy all contribute to the imbalance in sex ratios.
Girls are still born in far smaller numbers than boys. For a populous nation like India, this is a significant issue. Second, there is still a low level of female economic engagement. We have only reached 23.5 percent.
Why Don’t More Women Hold Positions of Power?
Women empowerment, girl child education and so much have been an ever-since discussed topic in the nation. But the question is why aren’t we able to reflect the result in the working sector?
There is no doubt that women in India are not in some higher position in the work sector. But again the important factor is still remains a huge gap between male and female workers.
The involvement of women in the labour force in India is significantly lower than that of men. According to the annual bulletin of the Periodic Labor Force Survey (PLFS) 2019–20 statistics. While the male involvement rate was 56.8% in FY 2020, the female participation rate was only 22.2 percent. The most recent PLFS quarterly surveys point to a greater drop.
This was 16.9 percent in the January-March 2021 quarter, with some of the top achievers including Himachal Pradesh (29.6). Followed by Andhra Pradesh (23.1), Tamil Nadu (24.2), Kerala (19.5), and West Bengal (19.5). With a participation rate of 4.4 percent, Bihar maintained its ranking as the worst-performing state. Uttar Pradesh (9.7 percent) and Delhi (8.8 percent) are just above Bihar. An expanded rural-urban division amid preexisting complexity is shown by further investigation.
24.7 percent of women in rural areas participated in the workforce, compared to 18.5 percent of women in urban areas.
Annual report of the 2019–20 PLFS Survey
With regard to men, this rural-urban disparity is not as great. In both rural and urban areas, the participation rate for men was 56.3 and 57.8 percent, respectively.
In India, women frequently have to decide between pursuing a job and starting a family
Women in India are always have to choose between their home life and work life. But this absolutely should not be the case. Women are not alone the responsibility bearer. And moreover holding women the only one responsible for the home and family work is one the main reason why workplaces in India record less number of women. Whereas there is a large number of men workers in different sectors of the workplace.
Starting from mindset to education, the basics must be properly done to increase the pace of progress for the future. As it is mostly the mindset of the people. Which do not allow women to take up proper education and stand on their own feet.
The nation will suffer financially if we do not reform the status of girls in our nation. According to some, the country will advance and become more economically robust by boosting the participation of women. As nearly half of the population—which is made up of women—is now underrepresented in the labor force.
Can Women’s Opportunity Impact the Situation?
As per TheQuint, Dr. Shagun said “We have enough data to support the idea that women make effective leaders. They can better put plans into practice, particularly in the areas of health, social affairs, and education.”
“A significant study on women’s quotas exists. The development of the village is observed to be better when there is a female panchayat head as opposed to a male panchayat head.”
Occasions like these should be taken into account as a great opportunity to start working more towards the improvement of the Gender gap in our country
The fact that after so many years of Independence, we just don’t have to focus on different initiatives and implementation of programs. Rather than there should be more focus on understanding of people’s mindsets. It is because that is the main root cause and further the functioning of the programs should be regulated properly. And the progress should be tracked to make further improvement and development.
The tricolor campaign was celebrated nationwide. In recent years, it has also been observed that countrymen take part in such programs.
Occasions like these should be taken into account as a great opportunity to start working more towards the improvement of the Gender gap in our country. Since the statements of the officials and leaders do affect the citizen’s sentiments and emotions. Even despite that, a woman serving as president of our nation can still make a big difference with her message. It will be a huge step towards progression and development.