Hyderabad: The deadly Coronavirus pandemic has not only ruined various sectors and economies of nations, but also the living conditions of women. Especially in India the gender equality has suffered a big blow. According to the World Economic Forum's latest ranking, India slipped 28 spots to rank 140th in the Global Gender Gap Index which includes a total of 156 countries. In 2020, India had ranked 112th amongst 153 countries.
However, at the bottom of the index are Pakistan (153) and Afghanistan (156). On the other hand, Bangladesh (56), Nepal (106), Sri Lanka (116) and Bhutan (130) fared better than India in terms of gender equality.
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Global estimates also indicate that women's earnings are just one fifth when compared to their male counterparts and that India is one of the last ten countries where female incomes are the least in the world. Though the educational gap between boys and girls narrowed down in India, male literacy at 17.6 per cent is far lower when compared to female literacy which stands at 34.2 per cent.
How come India’s rank drastically decline in the Gender Gap Index within a year's span?
It is evident that lack of representation for women in economic activities, lack of political empowerment and scarce employment opportunities are a reason for India's poor gender gap. We can learn a lot from countries like Iceland, Finland, Norway, New Zealand, Sweden and other countries that are top ranking in terms of gender equality.
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It may be also be recollected that India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had said that the living standards of women are the real yardsticks to measure the progress achieved by a nation. Also, our founding fathers had specified about the same and hence had even accorded top priority to gender equality.
The strength of women in the labour force declined by 22 per cent and only 8.9 per cent of women are employed in managerial positions. Meanwhile, slogans like Beti Bachao, Beti Padao are doing good, on one hand, startling facts like a majority of girls becoming mothers before attaining 20 years of age needs to be looked into with immediate effect. Also, the focus should be laid on curbing maternal mortalities and malnutrition in women.
