Abstract
The present chapter is an attempt to highlight and address the issue of gender disparities and the socio-economic problems of women in India. Indian society is patriarchal and driven by men's ideology where women are restricted to being the part of formal workforce, and also experience a high level of domestic violence. The status of Indian women is primarily dependent on various factors like demographic location, basic education, social status, etc. Indian women are restricted in various aspects like access to health facilities, proper education, lessening decision-making power, etc. Despite political reservations, women are hindered to be political participants at local, national, and international levels. Indian government frames various policies for women's welfare and empowerment. However, there is significant gap exists between the framing and execution of such policies. Hence, the main focus of the chapter is to examine the various issues faced by Indian women to achieve economic development and gender equality.
Top1. Introduction
Globalization and liberalization accelerate the economic growth of India at the cost of the exploitation of labours, especially female labour. Liberalization enables India to accomplish the phenomenon of economic growth but with unequal distribution of wealth and gender discrimination. The two main features of the Indian labour market are inequality and informality. Inequality exists in terms of wages, working conditions, job specification and job security till the present time (Kundu and Mohanan, 2009). The heterogeneous nature of the Indian labour market in terms of nature, skill and gender biases leads to enormous inequity and the government has failed to address this never-ending problem with different reformation and liberal policies. Indian economy immensely depends on the informal sector and it expanding rapidly in recent decades as it provides employment and livelihood to a generous portion of the Indian population (Mosse, 2018). The informal sector requires low or no skilled workers and a major part of these workers are self-employed or casual in nature and such informal sector is also lack of social and legal protection and employment benefits. Out of total non-agricultural Indian workforce, about 86.3 percent of workers in 1999-00 and 90 percent of workers were absorbed in the informal sector [NSSO (1999-00); NSSO (2004-05)]. The contribution of the informal sector to the Indian economy is very significant. The contribution is accounting for 40 percent of the total industrial output and 35 percent of total export (Bairagya, 2018). In contrast formal employment is created through contractual agreement to provide business, legal and social benefits to the employees.
Gender discrimination is one of the main problems in the Indian informal sector which affect the socio-economic development of the country. Gender discrimination is not determined biologically but socially in India. The denial of equal rights to education, and job opportunities and suppression of any legitimate right in any form based on gender is gender discrimination. Indian society is mainly male dominant and gender discrimination occurred habitually here. Such discrimination creates talent scarcity in the economy which leads to negative consequences. Above all, certain social, religious, and cultural taboos kept women out of economic affairs. It causes a deficiency in the economic, social, and political empowerment of Indian women (Berta Esteve-Volant, 2004). The implementation of different measures to enhance the socio-economic status of women in terms of income generation cannot pave a path to equalizing the economic status of women in employment (United Nations, 1997; Devi, 1999; Dixon, 1982; A.K.Sen, 1999). The Indian government has adopted the principle of ‘Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas’ (‘Together with all, Development for all’) in recent times. It appeals to Indians to work together toward eradicating poverty, gender inequality, and lack of sanitation. It enables the upper class and urban women section to take advantage which facilitates greater access to education and employment of this section.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Gender Equality: Gender equality refers to the same outcomes for all irrespective of gender. It implies all women, men, girls, and boys have same human rights and same value. It is the principle that indicates that human beings must enjoy equal rights, equal access to resources, freedom, and opportunities despite their biological differences.
Economic Liberalization: It refers to the relief of government restrictions within the area of social, political, and economic policies. To facilitate private participation and support free trade in the country, the government withdraws certain government restrictions. It reduces the direct interference of government on both internal and international transactions and gives the direction of moving towards a free market economy.
Gender Bias: It is gender based perceptions of behavior where women are differentiated from men in rights and dignity. Generally, gender bias refers to implicit or unconscious bias. It has a tendency to prefer or show certain favoritism towards one gender over another. It indicates unequal treatment of a person or group of people due to gender-based prejudice. Gender bias is a social convention that degrades women as a whole.
Sustainable Development: Sustainable development refers to development that meets the requirements of the present without depleting the natural resources It is used to strike a socio-economic-environmental balance between the present and future by conserving and retaining the undue damages of natural resources. Rather it sustains the balance between present and future needs without compromising the natural resources.
Women Empowerment: Women empowerment can refer to a social, cultural, political, and economic process that encourages the rights of women to have equal opportunity as men to make strategic life choices on their own, the right to influence social changes to develop self-esteem and self-worth. It is a process that enables women to attempt personal, social, and economic activities to raise their status in society and acquire the power to take part in the decision-making process.
Informal Worker: It refers to the workers who are engaged in employment without social, legal, and job security. They used to work in precarious working environments for long periods without proper wages. In general, informal workers are insufficiently covered by existing labour legislation. There is a lack of formal employer-employee relationships as well as socio-economic and political benefits.
Globalization: It is a process of integrating the economic, religious, social, political, and cultural systems among different countries around the world. Economic globalization promotes international free trade which converts the whole world into a single marketplace. It also promotes better cooperation, integration, and interaction between different companies, individuals, and governments with the objective of building strong alliances that are mutually beneficial to everybody.
Gender Equity: It is a process which implies the fairness of treatment for both male and female according to their respective requirements. Generally it means equal participation of men and women in all aspects of social life. Equity ensures that men, women, boys and girls have equal chance at the starting point as well as reaching the finishing line. It refers to the fair and just treatment to all human beings irrespective of sexes.