Gujarat an average performer in female empowerment, ranks 10th among 21 states

By Rajiv Shah
Gujarat ranks tenth among 21 major Indian states in top consultants McKinsey Global Institute’s (MGI’s) new Female Empowerment Index (Femdex), released recently. A decade ago, a United National Development Programme (UNDP)-sponsored report, released by the Ministry of Woman and Child, Government of India, came up with an almost ranking, putting Gujarat as an average state in what it called Gender Development Index (GDI).
The calculations made by the MGI, on a scale of one, gives Gujarat a Femdex value of 0.56, which is lower than Kerala (0.67), Himachal Pradesh (0.63), Tamil Nadu (0.60), Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Punjab, and Karnataka (all 0.59), and Uttarakhand (0.57).
The report, titled “The power of parity: Advancing women’s equality in India”, says that the state-level Femdex scores range from 0.42 to 0.70. It finds that some of the lower states such as Mizoram, Meghalaya, Goa, and Sikkim have considerably good Femdex scores, ranging between 0.70 and 0.64.
This suggests, the report states, that there are “pockets within India where gender gaps are roughly in line with those in Argentina, China, or Indonesia”, which have Femdex value of about 0.66 to 0.70, though adding, “The top five states account for just 4 percent of India’s female working-age population.”
The lowest five state Femdex scores (in increasing order) are in Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh, ranging from 0.42 to 0.49. The scores suggest, according to the report, that gender equality levels in these states is as low as those in Chad and Yemen, which have a Femdex of 0.47 and 0.45, respectively.
“The bottom five states account for some 32 percent of India’s female working-age population, representing a large opportunity to improve India’s national position on gender equality”, the report comments.
Though the report believes, “aggregate Femdex scores are highly correlated with per capita GDP (r=0.68, based on a correlation with log of per capita GDP)”, it does not say why Gujarat fairs badly in Femdex despite its per capita GDP being one of the highest in the country.
The McKinsey report merely says, “There are outliers. For example, Kerala has slightly lower per capita GDP than Maharashtra’s, but a significantly higher aggregate Femdex of 0.67 compared with 0.59 in Maharashtra.” Despite Gujarat’s per capita GDP being one of the highest, it scores 0.56.
“The strong linkage between gender equality in work and in society that McKinsey Global Institute identified in its global research holds true for India’s states (r=0.65). As is the case globally, Femdex scores for physical security and essential services are significantly higher than those for gender equality in work”, the report says.
The report says, “The India Femdex is a tool that enables us to understand where each state stands on gender parity, and also to identify which gender gaps are the largest in each state.”
It adds, “It would be useful to create a more refined version (for example, with gender-disaggregated data on financial and digital inclusion and time-use studies to calculate relative time spent by men and women on unpaid care work) and use it track progress made by states to close gender gaps over time.”

Comments

From algorithms to exploitation: New report exposes plight of India's gig workers

By Jag Jivan The recent report, "State of Finance in India Report 2024-25," released by a coalition including the Centre for Financial Accountability, Focus on the Global South, and other organizations, paints a stark picture of India's burgeoning digital economy, particularly highlighting the exploitation faced by gig workers on platform-based services.

Countrywide protest by gig workers puts spotlight on algorithmic exploitation

By A Representative A nationwide protest led largely by women gig and platform workers was held across several states on February 3, with the Gig & Platform Service Workers Union (GIPSWU) claiming the mobilisation as a success and a strong assertion of workers’ rights against what it described as widespread exploitation by digital platform companies. Demonstrations took place in Delhi, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Maharashtra and other states, covering major cities including New Delhi, Jaipur, Bengaluru and Mumbai, along with multiple districts across the country.

Over 40% of gig workers earn below ₹15,000 a month: Economic Survey

By A Representative The Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, while reviewing the Economic Survey in Parliament on Tuesday, highlighted the rapid growth of gig and platform workers in India. According to the Survey, the number of gig workers has increased from 7.7 million to around 12 million, marking a growth of about 55 percent. Their share in the overall workforce is projected to rise from 2 percent to 6.7 percent, with gig workers expected to contribute approximately ₹2.35 lakh crore to the GDP by 2030. The Survey also noted that over 40 percent of gig workers earn less than ₹15,000 per month.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Budget 2026 focuses on pharma and medical tourism, overlooks public health needs: JSAI

By A Representative Jan Swasthya Abhiyan India (JSAI) has criticised the Union Budget 2026, stating that it overlooks core public health needs while prioritising the pharmaceutical industry, private healthcare, medical tourism, public-private partnerships, and exports related to AYUSH systems. In a press note issued from New Delhi, the public health network said that primary healthcare services and public health infrastructure continue to remain underfunded despite repeated policy assurances.

When compassion turns lethal: Euthanasia and the fear of becoming a burden

By Deepika A 55-year-old acquaintance passed away recently after a long battle with cancer. Why so many people are dying relatively young is a question being raised in several forums, and that debate is best reserved for another day. This individual was kept on a ventilator for nearly five months, after which the doctors and the family finally decided to let go. The cost of keeping a person on life support for such extended periods is enormous. Yet families continue to spend vast sums even when the chances of survival are minimal. Life, we are told, is precious, and nature itself strives to protect and sustain it.

Death behind locked doors in East Kolkata: A fire that exposed systemic neglect

By Atanu Roy* It was Sunday at midnight. Around 30 migrant workers were in deep sleep after a hard day’s work. A devastating fire engulfed the godown where they were sleeping. There was no escape route for the workers, as the door was locked and no firefighting system was installed. Rules of the land were violated as usual. The fire continued for days, despite the sincere efforts of fire brigade personnel. The bodies were charred in the intense heat and were beyond identification, not fit for immediate forensic examination. As a result, nobody knows the exact death toll; estimates are hovering around 21 as of now.

'Gandhi Talks': Cinema that dares to be quiet, where music, image and silence speak

By Vikas Meshram In today’s digital age, where reels and short videos dominate attention spans, watching a silent film for over two hours feels almost like an act of resistance. Directed by Kishor Pandurang Belekar, “Gandhi Talks” is a bold cinematic experiment that turns silence into language and wordlessness into a powerful storytelling device. The film is not mere entertainment; it is an experience that pushes the viewer inward, compelling reflection on life, values, and society.

When resistance became administrative: How I learned to stop romanticising the labour movement

By Rohit Chauhan* On my first day at a labour rights NGO, I was given a monthly sales target: sixty memberships. Not sixty workers to organise, not sixty conversations about exploitation, not sixty political discussions. Sixty conversions. I remember staring at the whiteboard, wondering whether I had mistakenly walked into a multi-level marketing office instead of a trade union. The language was corporate, the urgency managerial, and the tone unmistakably transactional. It was my formal introduction to a strange truth I would slowly learn: in contemporary India, even rebellion runs on performance metrics.

Search This Blog