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Gender Inequality
India retained the 131st rank on the Global Gender Gap Index 2026 released by the World Economic Forum on Wednesday, with Iceland, Finland and Norway maintaining their top three slots respectively. Only 14 countries ranked below than India on the index of 145 countries. These include Papua New Guinea, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Tajikistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, Mali, Algeria and Congo. Chad was the lowest-ranked country in the index, with Iran and Pakistan joining it in the bottom three. Geneva-based WEF said that nearly every economy tracked since 2006 by the index has advanced gender parity, but noted that full parity is still 120 years away. Globally, 69.2 per cent of the gender gap has now been closed, up by 0.4 percentage points over the last year, the WEF said. 100 per cent representing full parity. In India, the world's most populous country with approximately 1.5 billion people, the progress towards gender parity stood at 64.5 per cent, below the global average. While .
About 60 per cent of women respondents in the energy sector have called for gender-responsive policies to boost the country's 500 GW renewables target by 2030, a report by industry body India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) said. The study, conducted across 26 states highlighted the urgent need for strong policy and regulatory frameworks to foster participation of women in India's energy sector, an IESA statement said. The report revealed that 60 per cent of women in energy sector sought gender-responsive policies to boost India's 500 GW clean energy target by 2030. With robust government schemes and initiatives such as the PM Surya Ghar, PM KUSUM, and National Green Hydrogen Mission, the industry is striving towards unlocking the full potential of women's engagement in the sector. IESA President Debmalya Sen said in the statement, "Women are not just participating in the energy transition -- they are leading it from the frontlines." The IESA is a premier industry body dedicated to
The Central government will launch on Thursday a dedicated portal to support policymakers and stakeholders with data, resources and tools to strengthen gender budgeting practices. According to an official statement, the Ministry of Women and Child Development will hold wider consultations, bringing together key stakeholders from across the country to reinforce the government's commitment to gender-responsive governance. Union Minister for Women and Child Development Annpurna Devi will kickstart the consultations and also launch the Gender Budgeting Knowledge Hub, which will be a dedicated portal providing data, resources and tools to strengthen gender budgeting practices. The day-long event will see participation from 45 Central ministries and departments, 20 states, representatives from international organisations such as UN Women and the Asian Development Bank, as well as leading national institutions. The consultation aims to foster dialogue and promote innovative approaches to
Women in blue-collar jobs in India continue to face systemic hurdles that limit their career growth, as their participation in the workforce remains predominantly in lower-skilled, lower-paid, and less stable roles, a report said on Friday. According to the report by tech-enabled blue-collar hiring platform WorkIndia, women are increasingly channeled into gendered roles like telecalling and maid services, while opportunities in fields like field sales, marketing, and back-office jobs are shrinking. The overall number of job postings for women in India showed a slight uptick in 2023 (0.4 per cent), but in 2024 it witnessed a 5.3 per cent drop, the report said. "This reduction hints at more than just a statistical anomaly, it underscores a deeper issue in gender equality, particularly in blue-collar jobs. Women's participation in the workforce remains predominantly in lower-skilled, lower-paid, and less stable roles," the report said. The WorkIndia report is based on an analysis of o
Real estate remains one of the least inclusive sectors for women with only 70 lakh females among 7.1 crore workers employed in the Indian realty industry, according to a report. Realty firm Max Estates and In Tandem Global Consulting in a joint report 'Concrete change -- A Study of the Economic Impact of Better Pay Parity & Inclusion of Women in Real Estate' pointed out that the real estate sector has a long way to go in achieving inclusivity. "The Indian real estate sector stands at a crossroads. Poised for unprecedented growth, it remains burdened by challenges that prevent it from realising its complete potential. Women make up 48.5 per cent of India's population, out of which approximately 1.2 per cent female population is employed in real estate," the report said. Underrepresentation of women along with unequal pay across all levels of the workforce is one of the most pressing challenges the sector faces, it added. "Despite its role as a significant employment generator, the .
The Bihar government has asked top officials of 12 departments to immediately prepare a roadmap and plan joint activities for women empowerment and gender justice in the state as part of Centre's third phase of month-long 'Nayi Chetna', a national campaign against gender-based violence. The third edition of Nayi Chetna, a national campaign against gender-based violence, was launched by the Centre on November 25 and it will continue till December 23 this year. The objectives of 'Nayi Chetna' (3.0) include raising awareness about all forms of gender-based violence, encouraging communities to speak out and demand action, providing access to support systems for timely assistance, and empowering local institutions to act decisively against violence. Chief Secretary Amrit Lal Meena will soon call a meeting of the top officials of 12 departments of the state government to review the roadmaps and joint activities being carried out by the departments concerned as part of 'Nayi Chetna' (3.0) .
India Tuesday said it has achieved gender parity across all levels of education and is now prioritising increasing women's workforce participation in non-conventional sectors and bridging gender pay gaps and the digital divide. Delivering the country statement at the UN Ministerial Conference on women empowerment here, Preetam B Yashwant, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development, said India has worked on gender-responsive solutions to reduce "time poverty" of women such as clean cooking fuels, tap water connections and construction of toilets. "Aligned to regional trends demonstrating reduced inequalities in education, today, I am happy to share that India has achieved gender parity across all levels of education. We have one of the highest proportions of women in STEM disciplines globally," he said. Yashwant said that India has adopted a multi-pronged approach to address the issues of women on a life-cycle continuum basis for their educational, social, economic and
India's progress towards gender equality has accelerated in recent years, with increased investments and focus on women's leadership at the grassroots but social norms, limited workforce participation and gaps in safety measures hinder full gender parity, UN Women officials said. In an interview, Daniel Seymour, UN Women's Director of Strategic Partnerships and Susan Jane Ferguson, Country Representative for UN Women in India, shared insights on the country's strides and the challenges that remain. The conversation highlighted India's increased investments in women's empowerment and gender-responsive policies, yet stressed that deep-rooted social norms and limited financing continue to hamper full progress. "India's progress is significant, but closing the remaining gaps requires targeted efforts across both public and private sectors," Ferguson said. India has seen substantial growth in recent years, especially in gender-responsive budgeting, which has increased to 6.8 per cent, .
Only nine of 46 associations under India's largest and oldest professional medical association, the IMA, are currently led by women, suggesting a "negligible" representation in its leadership, according to a study. Further, of the 92 individuals who have served as the presidents since the Indian Medical Association's (IMA's) inception in 1928, only one was a woman, said a team of researchers, including those from The George Institute for Global Health, New Delhi. They looked at the current and past leaderships of the professional medical associations, including the Indian Public Health Association (IPHA) and those of all broad medical and surgical specialties. Unequal gender representation persists even in the medical associations closely involved in women's health such as obstetrics and gynaecology, pediatrics and neonatology, highlighting a male dominance, the authors said in the study published in the journal PLoS Global Public Health. "For instance, the National Neonatology For