What's New

A seat at the table

Context:

• Recently, Ravneet Kaur, a 1988-batch Punjab-cadre IAS officer, has been appointed first woman to head the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for a period of five years.

Status of women:

At the international level

• International Parliamentary Union’s annual Women in Parliament report, which shows that the global proportion of MPs who are women is only 26.5 per cent.
• One fifth of major corporations have pledged to go Net Zero by 2050 but do not proactively include women at the board level.
• Research reveals that women are more likely to experience deaths from heat waves and climate disasters in France, China and India and from tropical Cyclones in Bangladesh and Philippines.
  • They face increased safety and health risks due to inadequate infrastructure and unequal burden of domestic care.
  • Extreme heat raises incidences of stillbirth and vector borne diseases which worsens maternal and neonatal health outcomes.
• Women work harder in lower- and middle-income countries to get food, water and fodder during extreme weather events.
• Young girls drop out of schools to support their mothers.
• Women have less than 20% ownership of land due to legal and cultural constraints, even less in North Africa and West Asia and Sub-saharan Africa.
• As per the United Nations, 60% of the world’s hungry and malnourished are women.
  • International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) estimates that climate change could lead to an additional 1.2 million stunted children by 2030, especially girls.
  • More impact on girls due to unequal access to food, health care and education.

At the National Level

• Despite being almost 50% of the population, Indian Women in parliament have a share of meagre 14.5%.
• Literacy rate of women in India is about 65% according to Census 2011.
• Women over 25 with secondary education are only 41.8% as compared to Men at 53.6%.
• Women in the labour force are at 27.2% as compared to Men at 78.8%.
• At the International level, Gender Inequality Index (GII) of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) ranked India at 122nd out of 191 in 2021.
• Similarly, the Global Gender Gap Index of World Economic Forum (WEF) ranked India at 135th out of 146 in 2022.
• Non implementation of Law: Mary Com Committee found the absence of Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) in 16 out of 30 sports federations (including WFI) against the mandate of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
• The current global women in workforce participation rate are under 47% while for men it is 72%.
• Globally women enjoy only 77% of the legal rights that men do. At the current pace, it would take at least 50 years for legal gender equality.
• The incidence of anaemia in women is about 57% as per NFHS 5 report.
• According to a United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) study conducted in 2011 only 13% of girls in India are aware of menstruation before menarche.

Achievements of Women:

• Paris Climate Agreement 2015 successfully steered the global diplomatic effort under the leadership of Christiana Figures of Costa Rica.
• The Equator Initiative Award was won by Komala Pujari in 2003, from Odisha for conserving local varieties of paddy and promoting shifting to natural farming.
• Chipko movement by the women of Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district was a pioneer in environmental conservation in India.
• Many women have reached the top of their field. They have broken the shackles of gender stereotypes and stood to achieve their dreams and goals. For instance:

Issues of Concern:

• Under Representation: Women continue to remain underrepresented at political, economic and social leadership levels.
  • In the workforce, starting from entry-level jobs to high-paying roles, this underrepresentation gets worse in senior management positions.
  • Deloitte report 2023 says that 91% women at senior positions are unhappy with their organizations on gender diversity and gender support policies.
  • Indian Parliament and state legislatures have just around 12-13% of representation of women.
  • As per Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and UN Women report, India ranks 148 out of 193 countries in the number of elected female representatives in parliament.
• Insufficient Maternity Leave: During child-rearing years, the unemployment is longer, they have a much harder time getting rehired.
  • Finland allows seven months of leave for employees, yet such countries are few.
  • India’s Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 201 7 (the Act) has increased the duration of maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for two surviving children.
  • However, the Indian Maternity Benefit Act, does not apply to women who are self-employed, or at workplaces that have less than 10 employees.
• Mental/Physical stress and harassment: About 30-70% of women in different kinds of jobs face unwelcome verbal, visual, non-verbal or physical harassment.
  • In India, a Deloitte report 2023 indicated that 53% working women in India have high levels of stress and mental health issues.
• Unequal Pay: Research finds that the median salary for women is roughly 22 percent lower than the median salary for men.
  • In India, the Labour Bureau in India has found that in rural areas in the agricultural sector, the daily wage for men is ₹264.05 and ₹205.32 for women.
  • In non-agricultural sects, the average daily wage rate for men is ₹271.17, while for women it is ₹205.90.
• Unpaid Caregiving and Family Duties: Women are expected and forced to move in and out of employment, depending on their family’s needs. Reasons such as a mother’s responsibility, dividing time between household activities and office, issues created for going on business Tours/training, safety concerns, etc are the few family issues faced by the women workforce.
• Glass Ceiling: Women not only in India but across the globe face a social barrier preventing women from being promoted to top jobs in management.
• Safety Concern: In India, despite of continuous efforts in the field of Safety, women are threatened by various acts via feticides, domestic violence, rape, trafficking, forced prostitution, honour killings, sexual harassment at workplace etc
• Globally, the Covid-19 Pandemic disrupted the participation of the women workforce more than men.
• Gender gap in employment rates remains among highly educated women and men in some countries.
• Data issue: Though most work in India is informal like agricultural or domestic work which often doesn’t get counted.

Steps taken by the Government:

• “Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0” during the 15th Finance Commission period 202l-22 to 2025-26.
  • Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 is an Integrated Nutrition Support Programme. It seeks to address the challenges of malnutrition in children, adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers through a strategic shift in nutrition content and delivery and by creation of a convergent eco-system to develop and promote practices that nurture health, wellness and immunity.
• 33% Reservation in Panchayats and Local Bodies through 73rd and 74th Amendments 1992.
• Gender Budgeting– This concept was first introduced in Australia in the mid 1980s & India incorporated this in its budget from 2005-06.
• Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme: It was launched on 22nd January 2015 with an aim to address declining Child Sex Ratio (CSR) and related issues of empowerment of girls and women over a life cycle continuum.
  • The objectives of the scheme are, to prevent gender biased sex selective elimination, to ensure survival and protection of the girl child and to ensure education and participation of the girl child.
• MUDRA Yojana (Micro Units Development and Refinance agency Ltd)
  • It is one such scheme which was launched on 8 April 2015 in which loans upto Rs. 10 lakh are provided to women entrepreneurs, without any collateral.
  • For instance: A woman namely Kamla daily wage labourer from Panipat has taken a loan of Rs. 45,000 from State Bank of India in order to start work as a beauty parlour and she is engaged in gainful employment with dignity now.
• Mission Shakti’ (Integrated Women Empowerment Programme): It aims for the safety, security and empowerment of women and launched for implementation during the 15th Finance Commission period 202l-22 to 2025-26. The norms of ‘Mission Shakti’ will be applicable with effect from April 2022.
  • It aims at strengthening interventions for women safety, security and empowerment. It seeks to realise the Government’s commitment for “women-led development‟ by addressing issues affecting women and by making them equal partners in nation-building.
• UJJAWALA: It is a “Comprehensive Scheme for Prevention of Trafficking for Rescue, Rehabilitation and Re-Integration of Victims of Trafficking for Commercial Sexual Exploitation”.
  • It aims to prevent trafficking of women and children through social mobilization and involvement of local communities.
  • To facilitate rescue of victims and to provide both long-term and immediate rehabilitation.
  • The scheme also has provision for shelter, food, clothing, medical treatment including counselling, legal aid and guidance and vocational training for the victims of trafficking.
• Swadhar Greh Scheme: It is a programme for the victims of difficult circumstances in need of institutional support for rehabilitation so that they could lead their life with dignity.
  • Under the Scheme, Swadhar Greh will be set up in every district with capacity of 30 women.
• Pradhan Mantri Matritva Vandana Yojana (PMMVY): Launched in 2017, it is a Centrally Sponsored Conditional Cash Transfer Scheme.
  • The maternity benefit under PMMVY is available to all Pregnant Women & Lactating Mothers (PW&LM), excluding PW&LM who are in regular employment with the Central Government or the State Governments or Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs).
  • Under the scheme Rs.5,000/- are provided to the eligible beneficiary in three installments during pregnancy and lactation in response to individual fulfilling certain nutrition and health seeking conditions.
  • The eligible beneficiary also receives the remaining cash incentive as per approved norms towards maternity benefit under Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) after institutional delivery so that on an average, a woman gets Rs.6,000/-.
• One Stop Centre Scheme: Launched in 2015, OSC is a sub-scheme of the National Mission for Empowerment of Women which also includes the Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahayog Yojana.
  • The scheme is funded by the Nirbhaya fund. The OSC scheme provide a range of integrated services under one roof including police facilitation, medical aid, legal aid and counselling, psycho-social counselling and temporary shelter to women affected by violence or in distress.
• Sabla, Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls: It aims at empowering Adolescent Girls (AGs) (11-18 years) through nutrition, health care and life skills education.

Way Forward:

• The adoption of the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development and the resolve of world leaders “to achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value” (Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8, target 8.5.) and “to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls” (SDG 5) by 2030 are proof of that awareness.
• In India, the government has come up with several initiatives for improving opportunities for women workforce-
  • Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
  • Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016.
  • Karnataka and UP have allowed factories to employ women on night shifts.
• NGO’s like Azad Foundation’s Women on Wheels program empowers impoverished women in India by providing them with a stable source of income and a safe environment where women can travel without fear of being harassed.

Conclusion:

• According to World Bank report, global GDP could increase 26 percent by closing the gaps between women and men in the workforce, which would benefit both advanced and developing countries. A McKinsey Global Institute report finds that $12 trillion could be added to global GDP by 2025 by advancing women’s equality. This rise in GDP can significantly help achieve India’s goal of becoming a $5Trillion economy by 2024.