Gender equality key to national development: Expert

A national policy with an action plan backed by resources is the need of the hour to solve gender equality issues in the country, according to gender expert and activist Pam Rajput.
Rajput was participating in the first International Conference on Gender Equality' (ICGE -1), the country's first-ever global conference on gender equality that is being held here in partnership with UN Women and Kerala government.
Rajput, who chaired a high-level committee of the Women and Child Development (WCD) ministry, gave a presentation on her report - 'Status of Women in India' which was submitted to the Centre on June 1.

"This committee and its report emphasises on women's rights must be recognised, protected and enforced for gender parity in the governance of the country. Because, gender equality is key to national development," she said.
Based on studies done by the committee, the report recommends that the highest priority should be given to issues like declining child sex ratio, violence against women and girls, economic disempowerment of women and girls and feminisation of poverty.
"The government is very positive towards the report and responsive. They have also constituted a small group who are trying to interact with the different ministries with regards to what actions can be taken on the recommendations of this report," Rajput said.

The report also throws light on the alarming state of affairs of the declining sex ratio in the various states in the country.

Highlighting the 2011 census report which has identified 262 districts as "Gender Critical," Rajput says a national policy with an action plan with resources should be implemented immediately to solve the gender equality issues in the country.
"In 2001 India did have a national policy for empowerment of women but the tragedy is that it was not operationalised. So, in our report we have said national policy with an action plan with resources should be implemented and should look at all issues into all the strata of society like Dalit, minority, Adivasi women," she said.

Emphasising the role of the state in ensuring equality, the report recommends that entitlements be guaranteed through gender sensitive institutions.
It advocates for adequate resources to be planned and allocated through gender budgeting and other explicit means. Strong monitoring mechanisms must be in place with accountability towards the community of women.
"Smart city projects should be made gender safe and sensitive. Make in India should include women of the country through skill development. There must be rigorous institutional reforms, including those in the private sector and in the media to ensure effective implementation of womens empowerment programs," Rajput said.