Seminar on Gender Parity

Introduction

• Man and woman both are equal and play a paramount role in the creation and
development of their families in a particular and the society in general.

• In India, since long back, women were considered as an oppressed

section of the society, and they were neglected for centuries.

• It hampers the overall well-being because blocking women from

participation in social, political and economic activities can adversely affect
the whole society.
• Gender inequality in India is a multifaceted issue that primarily concerns women,
but some argue that various gender equality indices place men at a disadvantage,
or that it affects each gender equally. However, when India's population is
examined as a whole, women are at a disadvantage in several important ways.
• Gender inequality in India refers to the health, education, economic and
• The Indian constitution provides equal rights and privileges for both men and
women, but most women across India don’t enjoy these rights and opportunities
guaranteed to them. political inequalities between men and women in India.
• Gender discrimination is the unequal or disadvantageous treatment inflicted on
someone because they belong to a specific gender. It is usually the women who
usually have to face such gender discrimination.
• The constitution of India provides an equal status to both men and women by
granting them equal political, economic and social rights without any
discrimination.
• We left the 20th century and entered the 21st century with a great deal of
promises and commitments on enhancing the role of women in Indian society by
bring about changes in their socio-economic conditions. However all our policies
and programmes when put into actual practice failed to produce the desired
results of enhancing the quality of life and the status of the Indian woman.
• Economic growth and technological advancement in India in the current decade
has been very impressive. But there has been bias in the development process of
India in favour of rural areas. The gender division of labour within the rural
household has remained culturally stubborn. Economic growth has failed to
improve the position of women who are oppressed and subdued by the hegemony
of social patriarchy (Das and Banishree, 2006).
 India’s Global Rank
Indicator India’s Global Rank Year Source
GGI(Gender Gap 140/156 WEF(World Economic
Index) (2021) Forum)
HDI (Human 131/189 UNDP (United Nations
Development Index) (2019) Development Program)
SIGI (Social 96/ 120 OECD (Origination for
Institutions and Gender (2019) Economic Co-operation
Index) and Development)
 wef report findings 2021
• India has slipped 28 places to rank 140th among 156 countries in the World Economic
Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2021, becoming the third-worst performer in South
Asia.
• According to the report, India has closed 62.5 per cent of its gender gap till date.
• The country had ranked 112th among 153 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index
2020.
• Noting that the decline also took place on the economic participation and opportunity
sub-index, albeit to a lesser extent, the report said India’s gender gap on this dimension
widened by 3 per cent this year, leading to a 32.6 per cent gap closed till date.
 Global Gender Gap

Economic Health
Participation Educational Political
Year Global Index &
& Attainment Empowerment
Opportunity Survival

2021 140 (0.625) 151(0.326) 114(0.962) 155(0.937) 51(0.276)

2020 112 (0.668) 149 (0.354) 112 (0.962) 150 (0.944) 18 (0.411)

2018 108 (0.665) 142 (.385) 114 (0.953) 147(0.940) 19 (0.382)

2016 87 (0.683) 136 (0.408) 113 (0.950) 142 (0.942) 9 (0.433)

Chart Title
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Global Index Economic Educational Health Political
2021 2020 2018 2016

Source: Global Gender Gap Report 2016,2018,2020,2021 by World Economic Forum

• “Within the region, a wide gulf separates the best-performing country, Bangladesh, which has
closed 71.9 per cent of its gender gap so far, from Afghanistan, which has only closed 44.4 per
cent of its gap.
• “India is the third-worst performer in the region, having closed 62.5 per cent of its gap. Because of
its large population, India’s performance has a sub­stan­tial impact on the region’s overall
performance,” the report said.
• In South Asia, only Pakistan and Afghanistan ranked below India.
• The report stated that India, home to 0.65 billion women, has widened its gender gap from almost
66.8 per cent one year ago to 62.5 per cent this year.
• In Pakistan and Afghanistan, the income of an average woman is below 16 per cent of that of an
average man, while in India it is 20.7 per cent, it said.
• As the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic continues to be felt, the global gender gap has increased
by a generation from 99.5 years to 135.6 years, the report noted.
• Now in its 15th year, the report benchmarks the evolution of gender-based gaps in four areas:
economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political
empowerment. It also examines the drivers of gender gaps and outlines the policies and practices
needed for a gender-inclusive recovery.
• For the 12th time, Iceland is the most gender-equal country in the world. The top 10 most gender-
equal countries include Finland, Norway, New Zealand, Rwanda, Sweden, Ireland and Switzerland.
 Oxfam Report: 'Mind the Gap - State of Employment in India‘-2019

• As per the latest available data (for the year 2011-12), the Gender Pay Gap
was 34%, that is women are still receiving 34% less wages than their male
counterparts for carrying out the same work.
• As per state of working India report (SWI 2018 henceforth), in 2015 total
82% of men and 92% of women are earning less than INR 10,000 per
month.
• Women in India spend 312 minutes/day in urban areas and 291 minutes/
day in rural areas on unpaid care work. Men correspondingly spend only 29
minutes (urban) and 32 minutes (rural) on unpaid care work.
• In India, women spend 297 minutes per day only on domestic work for own
final use within the household while men spend a mere 31minutes on the
same work.
Average Daily Wages, By sub Group and
gender, 2011-12
male female Male female wage
gap
Regular Urban worker 470 365 105
Rural worker 324 201 123
Casual Urban worker 184 112 72
Rural worker 151 104 47

Estimates based NSSO Data, Oxfam report-

 Mckinsey Findgings – Gender Inequality,2015
• Same amount of work, women are paid 62% less than males in our country.
• The report titled “The Power of Parity: Advancing Women’s Equality in India” says that if India can raise female
labor force participation (both urban and rural) by 10 percentage points, from 31% now to 41% by 2025, we can
easily accomplish an increase of 70% of this GDP improvement.
• You will be surprised to know that for the same amount of work, women are paid 62% less than males in our
country; only 30% of women are economically active in India and between 2009 and 2010, it was found that only
13.8% of urban workers in India are women, while in rural areas, 26.1% of all workers are women.
• Such huge gender disparity in Indian working environment and jobs is costing us a fortune.
• In fact, as per a recent McKinsey report on gender parity, it was revealed that India may lose Rs 46 lakh crore by
2025, if this wide scale inequality is not rectified. By improving gender equality in jobs and working culture,
India can add $700 billion or Rs 46 lakh crore to its GDP by 2025.
• The other issue with gender parity in India is the amount of unpaid work done by women, which includes taking
care of family, children and more. Globally, women spend 3 times the amount of time spent by men on unpaid
work, while in India, its massive 10 times.
• The report mentions that if the amounts of unpaid work done by Indian women are compensated and
calculated, it can add Rs 20 lakh crore to India’s GDP, annually.
• In simpler terms, this means addition of 68 million new jobs of women by 2025.
       
  Total Population Total Workers Non- Workers
       

        (in numbers and % to Total population) (in numbers and % to Total population)
Year Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total
6007566 5127503 11135069 3184334 281935 3466269 2823232 4845568 7668800
1961
-53.95 -46.05 -100 -53.01 -5.5 -31.13 -46.99 -94.5 -68.87
7266151 6284545 13550696 3838517 74075 3912592 3427998 6210470 9638468
1971
-53.62 -46.38 -100 -52.83 -1.18 -28.87 -47.18 -98.82 -71.13
8937210 7851705 16788915 6749646 178113 6927759 4132866 7368138 11501004
1981
-53.23 -46.77 -100 -75.52 -2.27 -41.26 -46.24 -93.84 -68.5
10778034 9503935 20281969 5832852 265522 6098374 4934691 9085289 14019980
1991
-53.14 -46.86 -100 -54.12 -2.79 -30.07 -45.78 -95.6 -69.13
12985045 11373954 24358999 6426028 1409704 7835732 6024832 9206693 15231525
2001
-53.31 -46.69 -100 -49.49 -12.39 -32.17 -46.4 -80.95 -62.53
14639465 13103873 27743338 8074157 1823205 9897362 6565308 11280668 17845976
2011
-52.77 -47.23 -100 -55.15 -13.91 -35.67 -44.85 -86.09 -64.33
623270258 587284719 1210854977 331865930 149877381 481743311 291404328 437407338 729111666
INDIA 2011
-51.47 -48.5 -100 -53.25 -25.52 -39.79 -46.75 -74.48 -60.21

Employed in Public Sector Employed in Private Sector Total Employed

State

Male Female Male Female Male Female

PUNJAB 378788 97993 280690 65230 659478 163225

%age 79.45 20.55 81.14 18.86 80.16 19.84

Health
Sex Ratio: NFHS-5 data shows that there were
1,020 women for 1000 men in the country in
2019-2021.

This is the highest sex ratio for any NFHS

survey as well as since the first modern
synchronous census conducted in 1881.
In the 2005-06 NFHS, the sex ratio was 1,000
or women and men were equal in number.
Sex Ratio at Birth: For the first time in India,
between 2019-21, there were 1,020 adult women
per 1,000 men.

However, the data shall not undermine the

fact that India still has a sex ratio at birth
(SRB) more skewed towards boys than the
natural SRB (which is 938 girls per 1000
boys).
Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan,
Bihar, Delhi, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh,
Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Maharashtra are the
major states with low SRB.
• Total Fertility Rate (TFR): The TFR has also come down below the threshold at
which the population is expected to replace itself from one generation to next.

• TFR was 2 in 2019-2021, just below the replacement fertility rate of 2.1.

• In rural areas, the TFR is still 2.1.

• In urban areas, TFR had gone below the replacement fertility rate in the 2015-16 NFHS itself.
• A decline in TFR, which implies that a lower number of children are being born, also
entails that India’s population would become older.
• The survey shows that the share of under-15 population in the country has therefore
further declined from 28.6% in 2015-16 to 26.5% in 2019-21.
• Anaemia: The incidence of anaemia in under-5 children (from 58.6 to 67%),
women (53.1 to 57%) and men (22.7 to 25%) has worsened in all States of
India (20%-40% incidence is considered moderate).

• Barring Kerala (at 39.4%), all States are in the “severe” category
• .Institutional Births: Institutional births have increased substantially from 79% to 89% at all-
India Level.

• Family Planning: Overall Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) has increased substantially
from 54% to 67% at all-India level and in almost all Phase-II States/Uts with an exception of
Punjab.

• Use of modern methods of contraceptives has also increased in almost all States/UTs.
• Unmet needs of family Planning have witnessed a significant decline from13% to 9% at all-India level
and in most of the Phase-II States/UTs.
• The unmet need for spacing which remained a major issue in India in the past has come down to less
than 10% in all the States except Jharkhand (12%), Arunachal Pradesh (13%) and Uttar Pradesh(13%).
• Women Empowerment: Women's empowerment indicators portray considerable
improvement at all India level and across all the phase-II States/UTs.

• Significant progress has been recorded between NFHS-4 and NFHS-5 in regard to women operating bank
accounts from 53% to 79% at all-India level.
• More than 70% of women in every state and UTs in the second phase have operational bank accounts.
Punjab sees increase in percentage of anaemic and obese in 5 years

• As per the report, the percentage of ladies in the age group of 15-29 years who’re obese or obese
has elevated from 31.3% 5 years in the past to 40.8% in 2020-21 whereas the load of 32.2% of
males have been discovered to be above the advisable limits in comparability to 27.8% in 2015-
16.
• In this age group, 72.8% of ladies have been discovered with high-risk waist-to-hip ratio, which
signifies belly weight problems and pose a danger of hypertension, diabetes, and stroke whereas
the percentage of such males stands at 63.1%.
• The percentage of non pregnant ladies aged 15-49 falling in this class elevated from 54% to 58.8%
whereas in the case of pregnant ladies the rely rose to 51.7 % from 42% in the final survey.
• High blood sugar ranges had been discovered amongst adults. Among ladies, 5.8% had excessive
and 8% had very excessive ranges whereas in males 6.3% had excessive and 7% had very
excessive blood sugar ranges. Similarly, 31.2% of ladies and 37.7% of males had elevated blood
strain.
Women-Specific Findings of NFHS 5:
The Positive Side

•TFR Below Replacement Level: India’s population growth appears to be stabilising.

• The Total Fertility Rate (TFR), which is the average number of children born per woman, has declined from 2.2 to 2.0 at the
national level.
• A total of 31 States and Union Territories (constituting 69.7% of the country’s population) have achieved fertility rates below the
replacement level of 2.1.
•Better Family Planning: The main reasons for decline in fertility is an increase in adoption of modern family planning
methods (from 47.8% in 2015-16 to 56.5% in 2019-21) and a reduction in unmet need for family planning by 4% points over the
same period.
•Improvements in Female Literacy: Significant improvements in female literacy have been witnessed with 41% women having
received 10 or more years of schooling (compared to 36% in 2015-16).
• Girls who study longer have fewer children, and are also more likely to delay marriage and find employment.
•Improved Maternal Health Delivery: Maternal health services are steadily improving.
• Antenatal care in the first trimester has increased by 11.4% points (from 2015-16 to 2019-21) to reach 70%
• The recommended four antenatal care check-ups have increased by 7% points to reach 58.1%
• Postnatal care visits have gone up by 15.6% points to reach 78%.
• Institutional births were accessed by 88.6% of women in 2019-21, marking an increase of 9.8% points from 2015-16.
• There has also been an increase in institutional deliveries in public health facilities (52.1% to 61.9%).
•Better Menstrual Health and Bodily Autonomy: Evidence indicates significant progress where women have the right to bodily
autonomy and integrity and the ability to take decisions about their lives.
• The proportion of women (aged 15-24 years) who use menstrual hygiene products has also increased by almost 20% points between
2015-16 and 2019-21 and currently stands at 77.3%.
•Technology and Banking Related Progress: The proportion of women who have their own bank accounts has gone up by 25.6%
points over the same time period to reach 78.6%.
• Around 54% of women have their own mobile phones and about one in three women have used the Internet.
Down side of the story
• . Lesser Institutional Delivery in Certain States: The survey indicates a worrisome figure of 11%
of pregnant women who were still either unreached by a skilled birth attendant or not accessing
institutional facilities.
• Further analysis reveals the institutional delivery rate of under 70% in 49 districts of
India over two-thirds (69%) of which are from five States (Nagaland, Bihar, Meghalaya,
Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh).
• Teenage Pregnancy: Teenage pregnancy has declined only marginally by 1% point and 7.9% of
women in the age group of 15-19 years were already mothers or pregnant at the time of the survey.
• Low Access of Reproductive Health Services: A very small segment of the population is currently
accessing the full range of sexual and reproductive health services such as screening tests for
 cervical cancer (1.9%) and breast examinations (0.9%).
• Negligible Decline in Child Marriage: The prevalence of child marriage has gone down but only
marginally from 26.8% in 2015-16 to 23.3% in 2019-21. One in three women continue to face
 violence from their spouse.
• Low Economic Contribution: Women’s participation in the economy continues to remain low (only 25.6% women engaged in paid work, a
meagre increase of 0.8% point).
• Women still bear a disproportionate burden of unpaid domestic and care work, hindering their ability to access gainful employment.
Metros show gender gap in Covid-19
vaccination, more men get jabbed

• India has clocked over 158 crore vaccines – first, second and

precaution doses taken together — until January 18, at a ratio of
954 women for every 1,000 men. Overall, this is higher than the
sex ratio (933) as per the last Census but it’s the top metros that 
show a gender gap in vaccination.
• Until January 18, Mumbai saw 1.10 crore men getting vaccinated
against 76.98 lakh women, a ratio of 694 women for every 1,000
men. This is sharply lower than the city’s Census sex ratio of 832.
• Similar is the disparity in Delhi: 1.64 crore men got vaccinated
compared to 1.22 crore among women over the last one year — a
ratio of 742 women every 1,000 men. As per the last Census, the
sex ratio in Delhi is 868.
• Uttar Pradesh, which has administered 23.65 crore vaccines—the
highest in India — saw 12.18 crore doses administered to men as
compared to 11.41 crore to women. This works out to a ratio of
936 female to 1,000 men – marginally better than the sex ratio of
912 as per the state’s Census 2011.
 Gross Enrolment Ratio (per cent)
2019-20 2019-20
States/ Elementary Schools Secondary Schools (IX-X) Sr. Secondary Schools Higher Education (18-23
UTs (I-VIII) (XI-XII) years age group
Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total
All India 97.0 98.7 97.8 78.0 77.8 77.9 50.5 52.4 51.4 26.9 27.3 27.1
Punjab 109.0 109.7 109.3 101.3 105.2 103.1 69.5 73.5 71.3 25.1 32.1 28.2
Tamil 97.9 98.2 98.0 90.1 91.1 90.5 66.3 80.6 73.2 51.8 51.0 51.4
Nadu
Madhya 92.9 91.8 92.4 78.3 72.5 75.5 45.2 44.8 45.0 24.2 24.2 24.2
Pradesh
Haryana 103. 102.4 102.8 96.0 91.3 93.9 60.6 63.1 61.8 26.6 32.5 29.3
1
Maharash 103. 103.6 103.5 92.7 89.9 89.9 91.4 67.2 66.7 33.5 31.0 32.3
tra 4
Uttar 93.1 97.3 95.1 68.1 63.3 65.8 48.2 45.4 46.9 23.7 26.9 25.3
Pradesh
 Sex- wise literacy rate in Punjab from 1961 to
2011
literates Literacy Rate
Year Total population Male female Total Male Female Total Gender
Gap Male
Female
literacy
1961 11135069 2084556 2084556 2084556 NA NA NA NA
1971 13551060 2934281 1627842 4562123 42.23 24.65 34.12 17.58
1981 16788915 4214878 2645471 6860349 51.23 34.35 43.37 16.88
1991 20281969 5919225 4012891 9932116 65.66 50.41 58.51 15.25
2001 24358999 8442493 6314677 14757170 75.63 63.55 69.95 12.08
2011 27743338 10436056 8271081 18707137 80.4 70.7 75.8 9.70

Source: Director, Census Operation, Punjab

 Rural – Urban Literacy Rates from 1961 to 2011
Rural Urban
Year Male female Total Male Female Total
1961 28.12 11.51 20.42 56.09 37.70 47.82
1971 34.69 19.88 27.81 58.60 45.40 52.49
1981 41.91 27.63 35.21 60.70 49.70 55.63
1991 60.71 43.85 52.77 77.30 66.10 72.08
2001 71.05 57.75 64.72 83.05 74.49 79.10
2011 76.60 65.70 71.40 86.70 79.20 83.20

Source: Director, Census Operation, Punjab

 SN As on 31st March Female Male Total
1 1961 - 15 15
2 1971 - 17 17
•Source: The Registrar General, Punjab and 3 1981 - 19 19
Haryana High Court, Chandigarh
4 1991 1 31 32
5 2001 1 27 28
6 2011 4 38 42
7 2012 4 38 42
8 2013 4 37 41
• The proportion of literate females as per the census 2011 was 65.46%, as against 82.14% literate males. This
indicator was even worse for rural females (58.75%). Fortunately, the gender gap for literacy showed an
improvement from 24.8% in 1991 to 16.7% in 2011.More recent data (2018) from the World Bank showed a
marginal improvement in literacy rates, according to which adult male literacy rates were 82.37% and 65.79% for
adult females.[6] The Indian economy has also been less favorable toward women, with a wage gap between men
and women despite a substantial proportion of women being engaged in the labor force across various sectors.]
• As per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-4 (2015–2016), the proportion of non-pregnant anemic women
(Hb <12.0 g/dl) in the age group of 15–49 years is 53.2%. Furthermore, more than 50% of pregnant women in the
same age group have been reported to be anemic (Hb <11.0 g/dl).[13] What is noteworthy is that despite a
substantial proportion of urban and rural women suffering from this basic preventable medical condition, only
30.3% of pregnant mothers reported consuming iron tablets as prescribed, and a meager 21% of mothers reported
having received full antenatal care.[13] 
• In addition, underweight combined with stunting and wasting leads to undernourished women who are more likely
to give birth to undernourished babies, perpetuating an intergenerational cycle of malnutrition, with the birth of a
girl child.[14] NFHS-4 reports 22.9% of women in the age group of 15–49 years with a body mass index of <18.5
kg/m2).[13]
• Other illnesses common among women include the growing burden of breast cancer, menstrual
problems, and mental health. Breast cancer is the number one cancer among females in India, with
an age-adjusted rate of 25.8 per 100,000 women. Problems related to menstruation and menopause
further add to women's woes. The reported incidences of menstrual issues such as menorrhagia,
leukorrhea, endometriosis, and polycystic ovarian disorder have only been increasing with time.
More recently, mental health issues such as depression (due to various domestic causes and/or
other health issues) have also surfaced among Indian females.
• The National Mental Health Survey of 2015–2016. reported a female predominance for depressive
disorders (at the time of survey [females vs. males – 3.0% vs. 2.4%] and lifetime [females vs.
males – 5.7% vs. 4.8%]). Differences in access to health care and the power to seek health-care
remain major factors influencing these illnesses. It is observed that the average inpatient health-
care expenditure is 1.5 times higher for Indian males as compared to Indian females.
• One of the reasons for poor access to health care among women as cited in the study was the fact
that more than 70% of Indian women were engaged in unpaid household chores and caregiving,
which are noneconomic activities, thereby underestimating the relative importance of their health.