India moves from women development to women-led development

To realise the clarion call to Nari Shakti (women empowerment), the Government has made various legislative interventions and enabling provisions to ensure women’s participation in various professions. India’s G20 Presidency in 2023 also listed ‘women-led development’ as one of its six priorities amid rising global attention towards women’s workforce participation.

India’s multi-pronged approach with the implementation of a range of initiatives to promote women's leadership, entrepreneurship, education, and skill development has put India at the forefront in international arena of advancing women-led development and promoting gender equality.

According to the World Bank, India has among the highest proportion of female Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) graduates, at 42.7 per cent.

Over the years, the element of women-centricity in Government initiatives has been rising in India and is visible in the expanding its gender budget. In FY14, the Government provisioned Rs. 97,134 crore on the schemes for the welfare and empowerment of women, which has consistently increased over the years and reached Rs. 3.10 lakh crore in the current financial year 2024-25.

Women-led development begins with ensuring the health and education of the girl child. The emphasis on Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (save the girl child, educate the girl child) has sensitised collective consciousness towards cherishing, educating, and saving for the girl child. The sex ratio at birth (SRB) at the national level has improved from 918 (2014-15)

to 930 (2023-24, provisional) and the maternal mortality rate has declined from 130/lakh live births in 2014- 16 to 97/lakh live births in 2018-20.

For women-led development to even begin, the Government has rightly focused the gender-specific disadvantages affecting a large section of women belonging to rural and low-income households. Towards this goal, the construction of toilets under ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ (clean India), the provision of clean cooking gas connections under ‘Ujjawala Scheme’ and the provision of tap drinking water connections under ‘Jal Jeevan (water for life) Mission’ have transformed the lives of women by reducing the drudgery and care burden. These initiatives, besides addressing concerns of safety and dignity, also free up time and energy for productive work such as participation in women’s collectives through National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM). The Government of India has undertaken multipronged initiatives to improve the well-being of women in the socio-economic and socio-political fronts.

Women's Reservation Bill--Women's Reservation Bill, the constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023, provides for 33% percent of seats in women in Lok Sabha, State legislative assemblies, and the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi.

Mahila Police Volunteer (women police volunteer scheme) --An MPV will serve as a public-police interface for the purpose of fighting crime against women. The Union Ministry of Women & Child Development and the Union Ministry of Home Affairs are the joint initiators of this project. The goal of the Mahila Police Volunteers programme is to use highly trained individuals to serve as a conduit between the local people and the police in rural areas.

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (save the girl child, educate the girl child) -- It was launched in year 2015. It is a multi-sectoral scheme. Its main objective was to prevent gender-biased sex selective elimination, to ensure survival and protection of the girl child to ensure education and participation of the girl child.

Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (girl child prosperity scheme) --The government sponsors the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY), a savings programme designed to support girls' education and well-being. This programme was launched in 2015, enables parents to start a savings account for their girl child and continue to contribute regularly until the child turns 21 to save for their daughters' futures by offering attractive interest rates and tax benefits.

Stand up India--Launched on the 125th anniversary of Dr. Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar's birth, the Stand-Up India initiative aims to empower women entrepreneurs and marginalised groups like schedule caste and tribe by utilising the institutional credit framework. This makes it possible for them to take part in the country's economic expansion, which encourages the involvement of the weaker segments of society in the economy.

Mahila Shakti Kendra Scheme—(women empowerment centre) Mahila Shakti Kendra was established to offer “one stop convergent support services for empowering rural women with opportunities for skill development, employment, digital literacy, health and nutrition,” according to the Finance Minister's 2017–18 budget speech. The Pradhan Mantri Mahila Shashaktikaran Yojana (PMMSY) has supported the implementation of a new sub-scheme called Mahila Shakti Kendra (MSK) for the years 2017–18 through 2019–20.

The One Stop Centre (OSC)--The programme is managed by Sambal under the Mukhya Mantri Jan Kalyan Yojana (chief minister public welfare scheme) . The Sambal Card is a social beneficiary card that provides unorganised workers with social security. In order to provide comprehensive care for women who have suffered abuse, assault, or trauma, OSC was created in 2015.

Women’s education in India continues to be an instrument of empowerment in terms of decision-making, intra-household bargaining power, control over resources, and political engagement. In terms of enrolment in schools, gender parity has been achieved at all levels with the implementation of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (education for all mission) launched in 2000 and the Right to Education Act 2009. In higher education, the female GER has been greater than male GER for five consecutive years.

The skilling schemes put a special focus on covering women. Under PMKVY, the participation of women among those trained has increased from 42.7 per cent in FY16 to 52.3 per cent in FY24. Under the Jan Shikshan Sansthan (Public education institute)) Scheme, women constituted about 82 per cent of the total beneficiaries. In the long-term ecosystem, i.e., in ITIs and National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs), the participation of women has gone up from 9.8 per cent in FY16 to 13.3 per cent in FY24.

The Government has also made enabling provisions allowing women’s participation in non-conventional sectors such as fighter pilots in the Indian Air Force, Commandos, Central Police Forces, admissions in Sainik Schools (military school), etc.

Increased access to education and skill development, as well as other initiatives for women’s empowerment, has elevated the participation of women in the nation’s development and progress. The female LFPR rose to 37 per cent in 2022-23 from 23.3 per cent in 2017-18.

In conclusions, women have been reimagined as architects of India’s progress and developmental activities leading to Viksit Bharat. The government has implemented multi-sectoral schemes that recognize the true potential of India’s women, empower them and provide them with the platform to contribute to India’s journey towards Viksit Bharat