Gender Equality: An Issue to be discussed!

For one man,one woman- Its the law of nature! What would happen if the God created only Adam, no Eve? Where we would go for the next Generation? Is it possible just by a one  creature- wheather it be  man or the oppossite? No! This differentiation of gender was created for the balance in nature, and no one can deny it.  If the nature can follow this 'Equality', why can't we, humans follow it?

Gender discrimination continues to be an enormous problem within Indian society. Gender inequality in India persists despite high rates of economic growth, and is particularly apparent among marginalized groups Traditional patriarchal norms have relegated women to secondary status within the household and workplace. This drastically affects women's health, financial status, education, and political involvement. Women are commonly married young, quickly become mothers, and are then burdened by stringent domestic and financial responsibilities. They are frequently malnourished since women typically are the last member of a household to eat and the last to receive medical attention. Women receive little schooling, and suffer from unfair and biased inheritance and divorce laws. These laws prevent women from accumulating substantial financial assets, making it difficult for women to establish their own security and autonomy.

Case is worst if we consider the Third Gender.

For last one year, we are coming across various issues about Transgender. Latest being K Prithika Yashini,India's First Transgender Sub-Inspector who recieved the appointment order few days back. Still Why can't we accept them in the society? The reason we says is Transgender people experience a mismatch between their gender identity or gender expression and their assigned sex. Is it their fault? What is there if they belongs to that category? Actually we are destroying the hopes and dreams of such people for no reason. Just imagine if we were born in other planet along with creatures who belongs to that world and what would happen? They would enjoy every facilities,we will have to find places even to urinate & excrete?how difficult it would be? That is  what happening with  Third Gender here. So its high time to treat them as normal Humans. We can't threaten them for the reason they are not responsible for.

Eventhough India have an improved sex ratio over last 10  years, India ranks 130 out of 155 countries in the Gender Inequality Index (GII) for 2014, way behind Bangladesh and Pakistan that rank 111 and 121 respectively, according to data in the United National Development Programme’s latest Human Development Report (HDR) 2015.Among South Asian countries, India fares better than only Afghanistan which is at 152.The index captures inequalities in gender-specific indicators: reproductive health measured by maternal mortality ratio and adolescent birth rates, empowerment quantified by share of parliamentary seats and attainment in education, and economic activity measured by labour market participation rate.

Pakistan and Bangladesh have a lower Human Development Index (HDI) than India and yet perform better on gender equality as measured by GII. India is placed 130 out of 188 on the Human Development Index (HDI) with Bangladesh at 142 and Pakistan at 147.

But with respect to each parameter on the gender index, India lags behind both its neighbours. Consider this:Merely 12.2 per cent of parliamentary seats are held by women in India as against 19.7 in Pakistan and 20 in Bangladesh.India is also beset with a high maternal mortality rate of 190 deaths per 100,000 live births as compared to 170 pregnancy-related deaths per 100,000 births in both Bangladesh and Pakistan.In percentage of women receiving secondary education, Bangladesh at 34 per cent far outperforms India at 27 per cent.On labour force participation rate for women, Bangladesh is at 57 per cent, India is at 27 per cent.

 In all the above indexes, India’s performance is way below the South Asian average.

The only parameter where India fares slightly better is the adolescent birth rate, which is the number of births per 1000 women aged 15 to 19 years. A lower adolescent birth rate indicates a female population that is more in control of its choices when it comes to marrying and conceiving late.

On this scale, India’s figures are much better than that of Bangladesh as well as the South Asian average, though Pakistan’s record is marginally better than India’

As per the McKinsey report Pushing gender equality can deliver a sizeable additional economic growth and could add Rs. 46 lakh crore (USD 700 billion) to India's GDP in 2025

According to the new report by McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) titled 'The Power of Parity: Advancing Women's Equality in India', bridging the gender gap will have a huge economic impact and the boost could translate into 1.4 per cent per year incremental GDP growth for India.According to them  Advancing gender equality can deliver sizeable additional economic growth and broad-based prosperity to the world -- nowhere more so than in India. India's share of women's contribution to GDP is at 17 per cent, much lower than the global average of 37 per cent, and the lowest among all 10 regions in the world analysed by MGI. About 70 per cent of the increase would come from raising India's female labour-force participation rate to 41 per cent in 2025, from 31 per cent at present. This would bring 68 million more women into the economy over this period.

Interestingly, 26 countries in McKinsey's dataset of 95 have a lower per capita GDP and human development index than India. However, many of these have higher levels of gender parity.
The Indian economy will obviously gain if we bridge the gender gap in the workplace, but this gap cannot be plugged if we do not consider gender equality in society and change our social attitudes and unconscious bias towards women

But How?

India has the potential to lead the world in creating just and equitable societies.Ban any movie, TV show, writing or any form of media that openly portrays violence, persecution, sexual offence, general treatment against women. If a male child is allowed to do something at home, the female child should also be. If you don't want the female child to do something for safety or tradition, the male child should also not be allowed to do it. A sense of equality starts at home, from parents and siblings.There should ONLY be co-education schools. Boys and girls should be allowed to go through awkward adolescence. A boys school or a girls school effectively reduces the awkwardness that can be slowly, over time, eliminated inside a closed environment so when they get out into the world, they have already met and interacted with enough members of the opposite sex.Husbands should not be allowed to beat their wives and vice-versa.If a parent notices a boy treating a girl any different than his boy friends he should be taught that both are equal. Sex education at home and school. Parents should explain to their kids the different sexual changes that happen as they grow up and be approachable with any doubts. Friendship between opposite genders should not be discouraged. In fact, it should be encouraged.

Strengthen opportunities for postprimary  education for girls while meeting commitments to universal primary education.Invest in infrastructure to reduce women’s and girls’ time burdens. Guarantee women’s and girls’ property and inheritance rights. Eliminate gender inequality in employment by decreasing women’s reliance on informal employment, closing gender gaps in earnings, and reducing occupational segregation. Increase women’s share of seats in national parliaments and local government bodies. These are some which has to be practiced in home as well as in our country

Above all, the women should take this matter into their hands and from where we can see it, only a woman can help another woman. If you see someone troubling a female, intervene. Your actions will be reciprocated by someone else. Don't expect a man to come for your help because most of them are not men enough. You can be the eyes and ears for another woman.

“ MAN OF QUALITY RESPECT’S WOMEN’s EQUALITY”- Practice the saying and make India democratic in all sense!