India has moved up eight places on a yearly basis Gender Gap Report, 2023and is 127th out of 146 countries In terms of gender equality, up from 135 in the previous year. But this improved figure, reducing the overall gender gap by 64.3%, is hardly cause for cheer. On the index’s four key markers – economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment – India has room to improve on each so that half of the world’s most populous country can contribute. economy, development and overall well being of the society. Thanks to grassroots efforts after the 73rd and 74th amendments, India has done well in education and political empowerment, with over 40% female representation in local governance. But, as the report points out, women represent only 15.1% of parliamentarians, “the highest for India since the inaugural edition in 2006.” This should prompt Parliament to take it to the next level by taking action on the long-pending Women’s Reservation Bill, which proposes to reserve 33% of seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures for women, and pass it in the House for the first time. was introduced earlier. To understand where things stand on women’s participation in politics, consider this: Nagaland, which became a state in 1963, elected its first two women legislators only in 2023.
In terms of providing equal access to men and women to economic participation and opportunity, India ranks at the bottom with less than 40% equality. On the one hand, there has been an increase in pay and income equality, but then there has been a decline in the share of women in senior positions and technical roles. Another concern is India’s performance in health and survival, although improvements in the sex ratio at birth have brought parity after more than a decade of slow progress. It is essential that girls have access to education at all levels of school and college; And they also need paid work. Women do so much unpaid work at home that many do not have the time or energy to choose paid work. Providing job-secured education to girls would automatically improve all development indices, including nutrition, and break the vicious cycle of early marriage, which leads to poor maternal and child health. If the pandemic highlighted the fragility of life, it was infinitely harder on women, with their labor participation rates declining, leading to lower household incomes. Often, even if they do get a job, women are bound by patriarchal and cultural norms; In addition, there are also serious security concerns. The pandemic has stalled progress on achieving gender equality by 2030, but work towards closing the gap must continue in earnest.