Importance of Women Empowerment for the Economy
[GS Paper 1 – Women Empowerment and Issues related to Women]
Over the years, it has been proved beyond any doubt that Economies tend to grow faster when women enter into the workforce. Studies conducted in various nations have proven that there is a direct correlation between greater gender diversity and higher GDPs. The situation can even be applied to India as well to gain the most out of women empowerment.
Why should Indian women be Empowered?
- By empowering women, we increase their right to economic resources, as well as their decision-making powers. This, in turn, benefits their households and their communities.
- Women begin investing more in their children’s education, the quality of human capital improves, and we as a nation reap the benefits of economic prosperity.
What if the Women are not empowered?
If women are not empowered, the nation’s economy loses. A recent study by the World Bank found that countries lose $160 trillion in wealth due to the differences in lifetime earnings between men and women.
Women participation in the workforce of India stands at an abysmal 19.9% (as per WB’s data of 2020) while 3.7% of them tend to occupy leadership positions in the corporate companies of India.India is striving hard to ensure a balance in gender diversity.
Progresses made for Women Empowerment
In India, women have made it to the top as ministers and chief ministers, administrators in the government system and financial sector CEOs. Progresses in other sectors can be listed as follows:
- Entrepreneurship – According to a report by Bain & Company, female entrepreneurs can generate 150-170 million job opportunities in India by 2030. The current Union Govt. has placed high priority on empowerment of women starting from their education, health, quality of life and providing them with loans to set up businesses.
- Mining Industry – more and more women are these days taking up unconventional roles, ranging from working at mining sites to manufacturing or security outfits. Recently, Sandhya Rasakatla from Hindustan Zinc became the country’s first ever women underground mine-manager. Mining Industry, earlier perceived as male-dominated owing to the physical nature of the work, women are breaking all the stereotypes and entering into all the sectors in good numbers.
- Armed Forces – The Supreme Court of India in February 17 2020, upheld the right of serving Short Service Commission (SSC) women officers to be granted Permanent Commissions (PC) just like their male colleagues. Till now, women officers were assigned only ground duties in the Army Aviation Corps. But now, two women officers have been selected to undergo helicopter pilot training for the first time in the Army Aviation Corps. They will join front-line flying duties on completion of their training in July 2022.
- A plethora of women empowerment schemes are making it possible to realize the concept of women-led development in the country. The government of India has taken the safety and empowerment of women and children into serious consideration. The growing injustice towards women had to be minimized, and these schemes are the solutions to the major problems related to women in India.
Way Forward
India is transitioning from women’s development to ‘women-led development’.In this vision, the women have been reimagined as architects of India’s progress and development, rather than being passive recipients of the fruits of development.As a nation, we need to continue empowering our women to achieve our full potential as a superpower.
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