Inequality has blocked India’s march towards progress for a long time. Economic disparity has divided India into two; one for the rich, who have plenty to waste and another for the poor, who do not have enough. Despite a lot of promises and projects, the prevailing gap between the rich and the poor is widening further in the country with every passing day. Similarly, increasing gender gap has also become a cause of concern. According to the latest World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index, 2022, India stands at 135th place among 146 countries of the world. From the said index, one can deduct the conditions of women in India as the list has been prepared on the basis of health, education, jobs and economic opportunities, which have been further divided in four sub-indices such as economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment.
India has performed poorly in all sub-indices, while her South Asian neighbours Bangladesh and Nepal have ranked much higher in the said list. The unpalatable truth is that the condition of Indian women is slightly better than women in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, where society still strictly follows the traditions and practices of the medieval past. Almost similar conditions are prevailing in India as men most often get preference over women. For instance, when the situation started limping back to normalcy after the pandemic, female employment declined by nine per cent in the country. There is no need to highlight that health services for women are in a pathetic state in the country as a large number still have no access to basic amenities like sanitary napkins, which is amongst the main reasons behind the spread of cervical cancer cases in the country. As for the other sub-indices, no real and meaningful change has taken place in the lives of women in India since independence.
The situation demands that the nation adopt sustainable development plans for women in-order to maintain gender parity. Which should include steps like severe punishment for participating in female foeticide, proper implementation of anti-dowry law, providing security to women in public places, etc., apart from increasing female participation in all walks of life. To achieve gender equality we have to educate the masses and create a bias-free society, wherein women can live as freely as men and get equal opportunity. As long as large-scale gender discrimination prevails in Indian society, the country remains unsafe for women. It is shameful to note that even after seven and a half decades of Independence, Indian women still rank last on health and survival index, based on sex-ratio at birth and life expectancy. Thus, in no way can we hide the fact that Indian women are still suffering from patriarchal biases. It is hoped that the election of a tribal woman president for the Indian nation will usher in an era of equality and progress.