What 'Pink' Economic Survey Says on Women's Plight in India
CEA Arvind Subramanian presented the Economic Survey before the Parliament on Monday.
New Delhi, Jan 29: The Economic Survey 2018 was 'pink-coloured' to signal sensitivity towards the plight of women in India. Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian, while presenting the survey, said just as the nation has committed itself to move up the ranks in Ease of Doing Business, a similar endeavour is required towards uplifting the female populace.
Among the red-flags raised by the Economic Survey report includes the dwindling number of women in the workforce over the past decade. The percentage of working women has declined over time from 36% being employed in 2005-06 to 24% of women employed in 2015-16.
To ascertain the position and strengths of women in the Indian society, a total of 17 variables were used. They included: violence against women, domestic abuse, sex ratio, male child preference, choice of contraception and sexual assault among others.
As per the Survey, nearly 47% of women do not use any contraception, and of those who do, less than a third use female-controlled reversible contraception.
The Chief Economic Advisor urged the country's legislature to pay heed towards the adverse sex ratio, saying that society's metapreference towards son has led to nearly 63 million "missing" women over the past decade.
Similarly, on the child preference indicator, the survey says Indian families, especially in the hinterland, prefer to give birth to sufficient number of sons before stopping reproduction. This practice has led to creation of a notional category of 21 million "unwanted" girls.
The report, however, also presents some of the positive results seen in the nation over the past 10-15 years.
While 62.3 percent of women in India were involved in decisions about their own health in 2005-06, the number increased to 74.5% in 2015-16. Similarly, the percentage of women who were not subjected to physical or emotional violence went up from 63 to 71.
Another positive trend came from the north-eastern states, which have fared well on all 17 variables. The hinterland, however, needs to take strides towards ending discrimination towards women, the survey notes.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 29, 2018 09:47 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).