Prof Mithilesh Kumar Sinha
Department of Economics, Nagaland University, Lumami
Empowerment of women contributes to economic development and prosperity within communities. When women have access to education, skill training and economic opportunities, they can participate in the workforce, start business and contribute to the local economy. Strong women promote innovation, productivity and entrepreneurship, which reduces economic growth and poverty. Women Empowerment in India is the most effective means for development Women have about 50% share in India's population, but they contribute only 18% to GDP. India ranks 143rd in the total 186 countries of the world in terms of women MPs. According to the report, till July 2023, the representation of women in the Lok Sabha was 15.1 percent while the Rajya Sabha is 13.8 percent. Out of 1,044 members of the Indian National Science Academy- INSA, only 89 women are 9% of the total. In the year 2015, there will be more decrease in her representation, including only 6% of women scientific members in 864 members.
The Ministry of Education recently released the All India Survey on Higher Education for the year 2021-22, which has seen a 32% increase in women enrollment for higher education since 2014. Although this growth is commendable, it highlights slow speed. The states of the northeastern region of India have been neglected in the education sector for a long time. However, women (collectively) of these states have shown 6.07 lakh enrollment in 2021-22, which is more than 5.95 lakhs male enrollment. The total enrollment from the region has increased from 9.36 lakhs in 2014-15 to 12.02 lakhs in 2021-22.
From carers to the posts of daily wages and leadership, women in India, like their global counterparts, are breaking the glass roof to redefine the roles assigned to them by patriarchal society. One of the world's youngest population countries, India's goal of becoming the third largest economy by 2030 will make women's active participation necessary in the workforce, which is more than 48 percent of the country's population. India's women's workforce participation in 2022 was more than 27 percent. The gender difference in India's workforce, which has been continuously reduced over the years, can be held responsible for conservative social norms in terms of demand (work opportunities) and supply (availability of women).
Out of 28 states, more than 90 percent of women are participating in domestic decisions out of 6 of the 28 states, which is much higher than 11 states and 2 union territories in the NFHS-4 survey. Nagaland (99.2%), Mizoram (98.8%) and Puducherry (97.9%) are at the top of this list. Ladakh (80.4%), Jammu and Kashmir (81.6%), Karnataka (82.7%) and Andhra Pradesh (84.1%) were the worst performing states.
In the percentage of women with savings/bank accounts, which they themselves use, the most improvement has been done.At the national level, India has seen a jump of 35.6 percent marks in the last five years. This progress can be credited with schemes like Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and microfinance initiatives in the last five years. As per the data, 43.3% of women aged 15-49 own a house or land alone or jointly with others in 2019-21, compared to 38.4% in 2015-16. In a significant improvement of more than 25% from the previous round, 77.4% of women now have bank or savings accounts which they themselves use. Yet, the data on jobs continues to be far from encouraging. Amidst a boom in the population of working age, the female labour force participation rate has been under duress, at 20% as per the Periodic Labour Force Survey compared to 50.6% for men. (PLFS 2019-20).
Women empowerment has become a requirement of time. Women must have freedom, trust and self-esteem to choose their needs and demands. Discrimination on the basis of gender is useless and has no importance in view of the growth of women in the last few decades. Women are given low salary and in families they are considered as cook and maid, and their actual ability is not revealed. There is a need for women empowerment in India to control such situations and give them an independent role in Indian society. Empowering women is an essential right of women. They should have proportional rights to contribute to society, economy, education and politics.
