Closing the gender gap: India still has miles to go in growth story

While there has been near gender parity in panchayati raj institutions, the percentage of women elected to the Lok Sabha is on a downward trend relative to the number of women candidates

A new report by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, titled “Women and Men in India 2024”, highlights a mix of encouraging progress and persistent challenges. One of the report’s key takeaways is the growing presence of women in the country’s workforce, governance, and economic activities. Notably, the sharp rise in the female labour force participation rate (LFPR) from 23.2 per cent in 2017-18 to 41.7 per cent in 2023-24 is significant. Yet, the achievement is shadowed by the fact that this still lags far behind the male LFPR of 77.2 per cent, and even below the global average