IAS/UPSC Coaching Institute  

16 Sep 2025 : India’s economic ambitions need better gender data

 Editorial 2: India’s economic ambitions need better gender data

Context

Uttar Pradesh’s initiative of a Women’s Economic Empowerment Index offers a framework that can be adopted across India.

 

Introduction

Women currently contribute only 18% of India’s GDP, and a business-as-usual approach risks leaving trillions of dollars untapped. India’s ambition of becoming a $30 trillion economy by 2047 depends on one truth: inclusive growth is impossible if half the population remains invisible in policy data. Nearly 196 million employable women remain outside the workforce. Though the Female Labour Force Participation Rate (FLFPR) has risen to 41.7%, just 18% are in formal jobs. The challenge is not only to create opportunities for women, but to make them visible, measurable, and actionable across all levels of governance.

 

A district-level tool

  1. Launch of WEE Index   
  • First in India: Uttar Pradesh launched the Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) Index, a district-level tool.
  • Five Economic Levers Tracked:
    1. Employment
    2. Education and Skilling
    3. Entrepreneurship
    4. Livelihood and Mobility
    5. Safety and Inclusive Infrastructure
  • Significance: Goes beyond measurement; embeds a gender lens in every dataset, department, and decision.
  1. Importance of Gender-Disaggregated Data
  • India has many indices on health, economy, and infrastructure, but few disaggregate by gender.
  • Without gender data:
    • Gaps remain hidden
    • Reforms stall
    • Exclusion deepens
  • Visibility drives action: When inequities are visible, targeted reforms follow.
  1. Case Study: Uttar Pradesh Transport Sector
  • Data revealed a very low percentage of women bus drivers and conductors.
  • Led to redesigned recruitment strategies and fixing infrastructure gaps (e.g., women’s restrooms in bus terminals).
  • Even modest changes proved catalytic — possible only due to gender-specific insights.
  1. Moving Beyond Participation Rates
  • The WEE Index highlights structural barriers, not just participation.
  • Example:
    • Women form 50%+ enrolment in skilling programmes.
    • Yet, they represent only a small fraction of entrepreneurs.
    • Their access to credit is even more limited.
  • Insight: The challenge is not participation alone, but systemic barriers in finance and enterprise support.

 

The need for data from every system

  • Mandate: Gender-disaggregated data must become universal and normative.
  • Integration: Every departmental MIS — from MSMEs, transport, housing and more — should include gender breakdowns.
  • Capacity Building: Strengthen local governments to collect, analyse, and use this data to design gender action plans.
  • Beyond Surface Counts: Move from basic counts to track retention, leadership, re-entry, and quality of employment.
  • Critical Stages: Focus on transitions after Class 12 and post-graduation, where female dropout rates surge.
  • Current Limitation: Often restricted to finance departments or women’s welfare schemes.
  • True Approach: Apply a gender lens to every rupee spent across education, energy, infrastructure, and beyond.
  • Core Principle: “You cannot budget for what you do not measure.”

 

Help for States moving ahead

  • UP’s Pilot Model: Uttar Pradesh has created a replicable and scalable foundation.
    • Other states like Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Telangana have set trillion-dollar economic targets.
  • Gender Dividend Imperative: To meet these ambitions, states must leverage their gender dividend.
    • A framework like the WEE Index can convert intent into action.
  • Practical Impact of WEE Index: Enables district-wise gender action plans.
    • Guides budget allocations, infrastructure priorities, and programmatic reforms.
  • Evolving India’s Response: The gender gap is not new, but India’s response must fundamentally evolve.
    • Requires a shift in perception, measurement, and governance response to gender.
  • Starting Point, Not Finish Line: The WEE Index is the starting block, not the endpoint.
    • It makes the invisible visible and provides a roadmap to move women from the margins to the mainstream of India’s growth story.

 

Conclusion

India’s gender gap is longstanding, yet the response to it must transform. Addressing this challenge requires a paradigm shift in how gender is perceived, measured, and acted upon across all levels of governance. The WEE Index is not the destination but the starting point—shedding light on the invisible and charting a path to bring women from the margins to the mainstream of India’s growth journey.