Women Powering Up the GDP

Sanika Bhoyate, SY BAJMC

“The best measure of a nation’s progress is the way it treats its women.”

From being the house heads to being the head of the country, women have come a long way. Women in the 19th century feared going out of their houses and today they have the courage to fight not only their enemies but also the ideology of their own people.

In the past few decades, women have worked diligently with their talent and dedication. They have ventured into the market and worked tirelessly to prove that they are nothing less than male businessmen. The present contribution of women to the GDP remains at 18%. This still has room for improvement.

They did tremble in the beginning but figured out how to stand up again after falling. According to the reports, between 2005 and 2012, around 20 million women had dropped out of the workforce. This is surprisingly equal to Sri Lanka’s population. In 2012, only 27% of adult women had a job compared to 79% of men. A report by McKinsey Global Institute has estimated that just by offering equal opportunities to women, India could add US$ 770 billion to its GDP by 2025. Yet, the present contribution of women to the GDP remains at 18%.

Even in rural India, women entrepreneurs have forged their own paths. Despite living in a socio-economic hierarchy and a restricted environment they asserted their rights, built up their own businesses from the ground up, and inspired many around them.

However, this curve of growth did come with its set of highs and lows. India’s rapid urbanization has not yet encouraged more women to join the labor force. The need of the hour is to mobilize more support – mentally and financially – for women entrepreneurs and help them kick-start their journey. Fortunately, the last few years have seen a paradigm shift in the entire process of women becoming business leaders and founding companies.

The way to enhance women’s economic empowerment is not just by increasing female employment opportunities but also by reducing their workload at home and office. Another way to increase their contribution to the GDP of the country is by recognizing their small businesses. Many businesses are not happening officially on paper because of which their contribution is considered zero. There has been a lot of debate on the same and what is clear is that while there is a need to have policies in place which encourage and support women's entrepreneurship in India, implementation of the same is key. There is also an urgent need to ensure that significant interventions take place to provide easier access to finance from banks and other financial institutions, as well as tax incentives. Additional relief measures would include increasing the overdraft facility in the Jan Dhan accounts of those running their own businesses in the informal sector by 10,000 rupees.

The CII National Committee on Women Empowerment works with industry to strengthen women’s role and participation in the economic sphere and community affairs, focusing on gender equality and prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace and women empowerment at the community level. Their duty is to work towards education and literacy, health, and micro enterprises as well.

Over the years, the government has come across various skills to support women. Some of them are Mahila E-haat, which is a scheme to support women entrepreneurs through digital India. The Swadhar Greh scheme which aims to provide all the basic facilities to marginalized women and children. The Support to Training and Employment Program for Women (STEP) Scheme exists to provide skills that give employability to women and to provide competencies and skills that enable women to become self-employed/entrepreneurs.

The Nari Shakti Puraskars are national-level awards that recognize the efforts made by women and institutions that make a difference in women's lives, especially vulnerable and marginalized women. The awards are presented by the President of India every year on March 8 - International Women's Day - at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.

Indian women themselves will have to play a key role in claiming a space for themselves in India’s workforce. Women empowerment with gender equality is the key to fundamental human rights and is pivotal in our journey towards a more peaceful, progressive and sustainable world. Evolving and closing the gender divide is inevitable and is being made possible through equal opportunities and equal representation for women.