Gender Gap / Gender Inequality

Now that Americans too have started ‘reforming’ India due to the targeted global hatred towards Indians, an American tweet got me thinking again about gender, something I've written about often on this blog. Rumble of Thoughts: Gender Inequality I’m sure no one is reading, but at least I can now see how much India has progressed since I began writing in 2007.

So where does India stand now? (Since Indian census is much overdue, the data collected must be from Sample Registration System (SRS), National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) and Central Registries) One hopes to validate these claims once the census is conducted.

But before I look at India, let me remind you that Kerala continues to be a beacon of hope; 1,084 females per 1,000 males (highest ratio). I have tried deciphering Kerala over the years and am confident that Kerala girls got educated, started working and became assets rather than liabilities. Culturally, Malayalees continue to prefer boys, but economic factors have outweighed this preference, and migration has likely contributed to the shift.

Over the decade India’s national sex ratio has increased from 943 females per 1000 males to 1020 females per 1000 males but since this progression is not uniform (rural areas are better than urban in some states) one can assume that unborn girls are still killed.

India Sex Ratio | Progression Over the Decade 2011 to 2024 | eDivas

Here’s a snapshot of the state-wise sex ratio in India based on the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5, 2020–21) estimates for 2025:

🧭 Sex Ratio by Indian States (Females per 1000 Males)

State/UT	Total	Urban	Rural
Kerala	1121	1138	1105
Rajasthan	1099	968	1022
Tamil Nadu	1088	1062	1113
Bihar	1090	982	1111
Himachal Pradesh	1040	936	1057
Karnataka	1034	1034	1035
Telangana	1049	1015	1070
West Bengal	1049	1016	1065
Odisha	1063	1010	1074
Manipur	1066	1077	1060
Meghalaya	1039	1118	1020
Mizoram	1018	1043	988
Uttar Pradesh	1017	961	1036
Uttarakhand	1016	943	1052
Assam	1012	982	1017
Tripura	1011	1024	1029
Jharkhand	1050	989	1070
Andhra Pradesh	1045	1024	1055
Maharashtra	966	954	977
Gujarat	965	929	991
Punjab	938	918	950
Haryana	926	911	933
Delhi (NCT)	913	914	859
Chandigarh	917	918	868
Daman & Diu	827	775	875

🧠 Key Takeaways

• Kerala leads with the highest sex ratio.
• Haryana and Punjab continue to show lower ratios, reflecting persistent gender imbalances.
• Urban areas generally show lower sex ratios than rural ones, likely due to male-dominated migration and socio-economic factors.

Gender-Focused Schemes in India (2007–Present)

Here’s a year-wise timeline of major Indian government schemes and initiatives aimed at addressing gender gaps from 2007 onward. These programs span education, health, employment, and social empowerment:

2007–2009

• Gender Budgeting Expansion (2007–08): The Gender Budget Statement (GBS) covered 33 demands for grants under 27 ministries and departments.

• Ujjawala Scheme (2007): Launched to combat human trafficking and rehabilitate victims.

• SWADHAR Greh (2008): Shelter and support for women in distress.

2010–2014

• National Mission for Empowerment of Women (2010): Coordinated efforts across ministries to improve women’s status.

• Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls – SABLA (2011): Focused on nutrition, health, and vocational skills for girls aged 11–18.

• Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (2010): Conditional maternity benefit scheme later merged into PMMVY.

2015–2017

• Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (2015): Flagship campaign to improve child sex ratio and promote girls’ education.

• Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (2015): Savings scheme for the girl child.

• Mahila E-Haat (2016): Online platform for women entrepreneurs to sell products and services.

2018–2020

• Mahila Shakti Kendra (2018): Empowerment centers at block and district levels.

• One-Stop Centre Scheme Expansion: Integrated support for women affected by violence.

• Women Helpline Scheme: 24/7 emergency response and counseling.

2021–2023

• PM Awaas Yojana (Urban & Rural): Encouraged property ownership in women’s names.

• POSHAN 2.0 (2021): Nutrition-focused scheme with gender-sensitive components.

• Stand-Up India (Expanded): Continued support for women-led enterprises.

2024–2025

• Lakhpati Didi Scheme (2024): Empowers Self-Help Group (SHG) members to pursue entrepreneurship.

• Cervavac Vaccine Push (2025): Inclusion of cervical cancer vaccine in broader immunization efforts.

One can see the shift from welfare-based support to empowerment-driven strategies. 

Gender Gap - revisited

While I grapple with the fact that more than a year has passed since I wrote the post on Gender Gap, (yes the days are flying too fast), let me also say that there is nothing much to say about the current one since India has only moved a rank down.


But let me post the Gender Gap Evolution 2006-2011 to show that India was doing better in year 2006. Not sure if it was due to lack of data, but the fact remains that in Year 2011, India is 22 from bottom (135 countries).

The complete list can be seen at WEF Website, but you can have an idea where India stands if you look at those countries just above and below India.

Mexico


Indonesia

Azerbaijan

Senegal

Cyprus

El Salvador

Mauritius

Tajikistan

Malaysia

Japan

Kenya

Belize

Maldives

Cambodia

United Arab Emirates

Suriname

Kuwait

Zambia

Korea, Rep.

Tunisia

Fiji

Bahrain

Qatar

Guatemala

India

Mauritania

Burkina Faso

Ethiopia

Jordan

Lebanon

Cameroon

Nigeria

Algeria

Turkey

Egypt

Syria

Iran, Islamic Rep.

Nepal

Oman

Benin

Morocco

Côte d’Ivoire

Saudi Arabia

Mali

Pakistan

Chad

Yemen


If you have some time, then do take a look at the interesting discussion at redif (comment section) on the same subject.

And today, we also read that MM Sing and Sonia ranks among the 20 most powerful – courtesy Forbes. Sonia is also one among top 10 richest politicians in the world.

A powerful woman in India but no power to the Indian women!

But then among the “powerful”, we see the following too…. :)

D-Company leader Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, "organized crime figure (is) suspected of involvement in both the 1993 and 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai" was ranked 57th, a notch behind Pakistani spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence chief, Ahmed Shuja Pasha, while Pakistan army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, was ranked 34th.

The Gender Gap

After the CWG fiasco here comes another disheartening report which should wake us up.

The Global Gender Gap report by the World Economic Forum.

The Index benchmarks national gender gaps on economic, political, education- and healthbased criteria, and provides country rankings that allow for effective comparisons across regions and income groups, and over time. The rankings are designed to create greater awareness among a global audience of the challenges posed by gender gaps and the opportunities created by reducing them. The methodology and quantitative analysis behind the rankings are intended to serve as a basis for designing effective measures for reducing gender gaps.

As always, curiosity made me look into the report, to try and understand what I can.

India has been ranked 112 (out of 134 countries).

Also, like many I wondered why India went below Philippines (with rank 9 and highest amongst the Asia and Pacific countries) and also Kuwait (women were given voting rights only recently) and UAE, specially when India has a woman in three of the most important positions, namely Sushma Swaraj of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and currently the Leader of the Opposition, Sonia Gandhi, President of the Indian National Congress and Prathiba Patil the Indian President. Sonia Gandhi was also ranked 13th in the Forbes most powerful women in year 2009, although they have not ranked her this year. But the report has taken into account this factor and hence India ranks 23rd in the political empowerment. Yet, this seems to have made no impact on other crucial areas namely, Literacy Rate, Infant Mortality, Maternal Mortality and even Wage Equality for Similar Work.

Now if you are wondering why this should bother us:

For instance, the United Nations estimates that, only in the Asian region, about $47 billion of yearly output are lost every year from a lack of female participation in labour markets, as reported in United Nations (2007).

Gender discrimination has widespread ramifications and clear economic and social costs. The Asia-Pacific region has made good progress in reducing gender discrimination in recent years, but appalling disparities remain. The region is losing $42-$47 billion per year because of restrictions on women’s access to employment opportunities – and another $16-$30 billion per year because of gender gaps in education. Those are just the economic costs – added to them are social and personal costs.

In some countries, one in every 10 girls dies before reaching the age of one, and one in every 50 women dies during pregnancy and delivery.

India and also Philippines falls under the Lower Middle Income Group of countries and this may be one reason why India (with a larger population) lag behind countries like Kuwait and UAE who are grouped under the High Income.  Sri Lanka has retained it's position and is doing well despite the turmoil it went through. And these countries are much ahead when it comes to educating their females. And education seems to be the crucial factor. In terms of literacy, India has only 51 females (out of 75 men) while more women than men gets the basic education in Philipines (95 female and 93 men). Even China's literacy rate is excellent 91-97. Sadly Pakistan is ranked the lowest in the Asia and Pacific region and those dollars which came in has not done it any good and for that matter it may go down further if the Taliban get's it's way.

There is also one more interesting fact that I noted; if one assumes that there are smart men and women who are equally good at their jobs, then when lesser women are getting educated, some jobs are being filled up by the not so smart men :)  We are aware of some of those women who are doing very good.  Indira Nooyi  who is ranked 6^th  in the latest report (Forbes most powerful women)  maybe ignored since her field is not India ( situation is not favorable ?) but yet there is still Chanda Kocchar  who runs ICICI, India’s second largest bank and she is ranked #92. I am sure she deserves a better rank since this bank seems to be standing up quite well when others elsewhere keep tumbling down occasionally. (103 failures in the period Jan-Jul 2010). Now I am not sure if women are better or worse  in jobs, although my blogger friend seems to have an opinion on them. I think it is because they need time to get used to the idea. But there are international companies who have made it a policy to hire 50% of women since it works better for them.  PWC is one example.

Klaus Schwab, the chairman of the WEF, said: "Low gender gaps are directly correlated with high economic competitiveness.


"We still need a true gender equality revolution, not only to mobilise a major pool of talent both in terms of volume and quality, but also to create a more compassionate value system within all our institutions."

Many analysis shows that gender inequality in education prevents progress in reducing fertility and child mortality rates, thereby compromising progress in well-being in developing countries.

First, gender inequality in education and access to resources may prevent a reduction of child mortality, of fertility, and an expansion of education of the next generation.

Greater education increases her health knowledge which improves her ability to promote the health of her children (World Bank, 1993), and greater bargaining power increases her say over household resources which often leads to greater allocations to child health and nutrition, compared to their husbands. For example, Thomas (1990) found that the impact of unearned income on child survival was 20 times greater if the income was brought in by the mother than if it was brought in by the father.

And, gender gap can also affect the Total Fertility Rate.

Total fertility rate


The total fertility rate (TFR) is an important determinant of development because the resources available per capita are fundamental to the development process. A high TFR squeezes resources (per capita) within a household, as well as at the national level, diminishing the health and education of children and the wellbeing of families. High fertility leads particularly to poor health and education of women and children, creating
a vicious cycle. A low TFR, however, enables countries to spend more on health and education, leading to improved social welfare.


There is a high correlation between TFR and per capita income, with higher TFR leading to lower incomes figure 3.10). The TFR is also a good indicator of women’s control over their reproductive rights and  health, of progress in gender relations, and of education, particularly that of women.

Now, to reduce population some may want to go the Sanjay Gandhi way (though it may have appealed to at least a few if he and his brother had set out an example themselves!). But if educating the female population can indeed bring down the overall population and much more, then it is time India spend more money on this than affairs like CWG's. CWG did give us Indians a high for a few days but I do not think it has done much for the long term.

Source:
http://www.weforum.org/pdf/gendergap/report2010.pdf
http://www.unescap.org/pdd/publications/survey2007/01_Survey_2007.pdf
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTGENDER/Resources/wp7.pdf
http://www.pwc.com/en_GX/gx/women-at-pwc/assets/closing_the_gender_gap_companion_guide.pdf