THE CONTEXT: India stands on the cusp of a transformative journey towards becoming a developed nation by 2047, a vision that necessitates women’s economic empowerment. As the new government prepares to take the helm, it faces the critical challenge of bridging gender disparities in socio-economic outcomes. Vital policy interventions that could catalyze India’s progress towards gender parity and, consequently, national development need to be explored.
ISSUES:
- Low Labor Force Participation (LFP) Rate for Women: The labor force participation rate for women in India is significantly lower than that of men, at around 25%. This is much lower than that of neighboring countries like Bangladesh (about 55%) and global leaders like China (almost 70%). Increasing women’s LFP to 50% could potentially elevate India’s GDP growth rates to around 8% and help achieve a five-trillion-dollar economy by 2030.
- Manufacturing Sector and Employment: India’s manufacturing sector has shrunk from 17% of GDP to about 13% over the last decade. Expanding production in labor-intensive sectors such as readymade garments and footwear, where women form a large proportion of the workforce, could be crucial. This expansion could be facilitated by including these sectors in the Production Linked Investment (PLI) scheme, which currently focuses on less labor-intensive sectors.
- Skilling and Vocational Training: Despite numerous Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), only about 7% of enrollees are women. There is a significant opportunity to increase the number of training institutes that cater exclusively to women, particularly in traditional and non-traditional skills. Overcoming barriers such as distance to vocational centers and credit constraints is essential for improving women’s access to skilling.
- Urbanization and Women’s Mobility: As India urbanizes, creating cities that accommodate and enable women’s mobility is crucial. Urban infrastructure, transportation, and public safety must be planned with a gender lens to facilitate women’s access to education and work opportunities. Developing a high-quality, subsidized urban care infrastructure could help release women from care work and create new job opportunities in this sector.
- Energy Transition and Reduction of Domestic Drudgery: Women in rural areas spend a significant amount of time on activities like cooking using inefficient and polluting fuels, which affects their health and productivity. Policies promoting the adoption of clean technology, like the incentives in the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, could reduce women’s time spent on domestic chores and improve their health outcomes.
- Gender-Specific Financial and Educational Incentives: There is a need for targeted financial support and educational incentives for women. This includes credit access, scholarship programs, and fee payment flexibility in government training institutes. Additionally, embedding career counseling and job placement cells in training institutes and promoting women’s role models and mentors could improve employment outcomes for women even after receiving skill training.
THE WAY FORWARD:
- Expanding Manufacturing Capacity in Labor-Intensive Sectors: Focus on expanding production capacity in labor-intensive sectors such as readymade garments, footwear, and other light manufacturing, where women form a large proportion of the workforce. This can be achieved by including these sectors under the ambit of the Production Linked Investment (PLI) scheme. Bangladesh has successfully leveraged its garment industry to improve women’s employment. The sector employs over 4 million people, about 80% of whom are women, contributing significantly to the country’s GDP and women’s economic empowerment.
- Enhancing Skilling and Vocational Training for Women: Improve access to high-quality, relevant, and affordable skilling for women. This includes increasing the number of training institutes catering exclusively to women and offering courses in traditional and non-traditional skills. Germany’s dual vocational training system combines apprenticeships in a company and vocational education at a vocational school in one course. This model, which could be adapted to include more women-specific programs, has successfully ensured high employment rates among trainees.
- Promoting Women’s Participation in the Formal Sector: Implement policies encouraging women’s transition from informal to formal employment. This could involve incentivizing businesses that hire and retain women in formal positions and ensuring equal pay for equal work. Rwanda has made significant strides in promoting gender equality in the workforce, with women holding 52% of parliamentary seats. The country has implemented various initiatives, including gender budgeting, and promoting women in decision-making, contributing to a more inclusive formal sector.
- Urban Infrastructure and Public Safety with a Gender Lens: Design urban infrastructure, transportation, and public safety policies with a gender lens to accommodate and enable women’s mobility and access to education and work opportunities. Sweden’s gender-sensitive urban planning, which includes ensuring safe and accessible public transportation and pedestrian paths, has been recognized for making cities more inclusive for women and promoting their participation in the workforce.
- Subsidized Urban Care Infrastructure: Develop a high-quality, subsidized urban care infrastructure to release women from care work and create new jobs in the care sector, enabling women to participate more fully in the economy. Japan’s long-term care insurance system, introduced to address the needs of an aging population, has not only provided care for the elderly but also created employment opportunities, many of which have been taken up by women.
- Incentivizing Adoption of Clean Technology: Incentivize households to adopt clean technology that reduces women’s time spent on domestic work, such as cooking with inefficient fuels, through cash rebates and production incentives. The Inflation Reduction Act in the United States offers a model for incentivizing the adoption of clean technology through consumer rebates and production incentives, which could be adapted to the Indian context to benefit women.
THE CONCLUSION:
Empowering women economically is not just a matter of social justice but a strategic imperative for India’s development. The policy measures outlined, focusing on increasing women’s labor force participation, enhancing skills training, improving urban infrastructure, and promoting clean energy adoption, collectively serve as a blueprint for the new government. By prioritizing gender parity, India can unlock its full potential and stride confidently towards its goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047.
UPSC PAST YEAR QUESTIONS:
Q.1 Though women in post-independent India have excelled in various fields, the social attitude towards women and the feminist movement has been patriarchial.” Apart from women’s education and empowerment schemes, what interventions can help change this milieu? 2021
Q.2 Distinguish between ‘care economy’ and ‘monetized economy’. How can the care economy be brought into the monetized economy through women’s empowerment? 2023
Q.3 Women empowerment in India needs gender budgeting. What are the requirements and status of gender budgeting in the Indian context? 2016
MAINS PRACTICE QUESTION:
Q.1 Discuss the critical policy measures the new government should adopt to enhance women’s economic empowerment and achieve gender parity in socio-economic outcomes in India by 2047. Evaluate the potential impact of these policies on India’s development goals.
SOURCE:
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/express-view-congress-plus-minus-9316843/
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