India's secondary sex

Poor gender equality militates against economic growth

The current government's focus on "development" mostly centres on the laws and processes that block India's progress into the higher echelons of global economies. But if the findings of the World Economic Forum's latest Global Gender Gap Index are anything to go by, more substantive attention to women's issues as well would go a long way in bridging a gap that keeps India firmly in the ranks of low-income nations. India has not only slipped 13 points, from 101 to 114 out of 142 countries, in the index but it is the worst performer among the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) nations.

Women's empowerment is a sign of a progressive economy, and it is no coincidence that the world's leading economies are those that score high on the index. Modifications to labour laws and fast-tracking of project clearances, while good moves in themselves, will count for little in the long run if the country's economic activity excludes 50 per cent of its population. India's new policymakers should, therefore, worry when the report shows that India is one of the few countries in which women's participation in the workforce is shrinking - India weighs in at a shamefully low rank of 130. Some have attributed this drop to the fact that more girls are enrolling in educational institutions, but this trend is by no means clear. In fact, other details in the index clearly point to discrimination. In terms of health and survival, India was one above the lowest rank at 141, and the fact that it is 139 in terms of the sex ratio at birth suggests that the country may be still killing many of women before they are born. And if more women are enrolling in higher education - the country ranks 111 here - the record for firms with women's participation in ownership (just nine per cent), the share of women on boards of listed companies (seven per cent) and the low percentage of women in research and development suggest that their skills are scarcely being utilised optimally. Much has been made by the fact that India ranks above developed countries in terms of political empowerment (15) but thinking Indians should set little store by this. It is skewed by the fact that India had a woman prime minister for 15 years and a woman president for five. The fact that India is at rank 107 in terms of women in ministerial positions, below even Burkina Faso (at 89!) points to the country's instinctive male chauvinism.

The depressing point about this report is that, overall, little has changed for India since the index began in 2006. On the contrary, India's reputation as an unsafe place for women has gained so much global traction that multinationals hesitate to send their women executives to this country. In other words, India's poor record on gender equality is not only discriminating against its own women but women elsewhere as well.