Mumbai: Gender inequality in workplace is great a concern for Indian corporate houses. With a workforce that is only 24 percent female, India has one of the world’s lowest rates of female workforce participation. India is missing some portion of economic prosperity as a 2015 report by the McKinsey Global Institute estimates that India could add 16 percent to its GDP in ten years if women participated in the workforce at the same rate as men. However, for India to achieve this target is a pipe dream.
A recent research report ‘Breakthrough Index: Women in the Workplace’ by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Nathan Associates has found that Indian states lack a lot in many parameters for providing working environment for women. Surprisingly, The Northeastern State Sikkim has emerged as the top in the list that provides favourable workplace environment for women professionals. Telengana was ranked second while Puducherry and Karnataka stood second and third, respectively in the Breakthrough Index: Women in the Workplace. The ranking is based on legal restrictions on women’s working hours, women safety issues, female participation in workforce and state government’s policy efforts.
Delhi is at the bottom of the list due to its relatively low justice and workforce participation scores; its continued formal restrictions on women working at night in a wide range of sectors; and its lack of any incentives for female entrepreneurs in its industrial policies. Broadly, states are ranked according to four main factors: legal restrictions on women’s working hours in factories, retail, and the IT industry; the responsiveness of the state’s criminal justice system to crimes affecting working women, such as sexual harassment; the number of women workers in the state as a percentage of total workers; and the number of incentives the state’s startup and industrial policies offer women entrepreneurs.
The report mentioned that four states (Sikkim, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu) have removed all restrictions on women working at night in factories, retail establishments, and the IT sector. In Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu, these restrictions were removed as a result of a court judgment. In this parameter, Maharashtra has missed some points; it only allows women to work until 10 pm in retail establishments.
Ranks of States in India out of Score 40: Breakthrough Index: Women in the Workplace
