WOMEN, CHILDREN AND OTHER DATA

WOMEN
● SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
● Census 2011: the literacy rate at all India level is 72.98% and the literacy rate for females and males are
64.63% and 80.9% respectively. Out of the total population in India, women population contributes
48.37%.
● NFHS-5: less than 30% of rural women have ever used the internet in 10 states.
● Women and Health:
o NFHS-4: suggests that 30% women in India in the age group of 15-49 have experienced
physical violence.
o Economic Survey-2017-18: over 21 million ‘unwanted girls’ in India, by analyzing the sex ratio
of last child (SRLC).
o Anaemic Indian Women: Over half of Indian women in the age group 15-49 years are anaemic.
There has been a rise in anaemic Indian women since 2016 from 52.6% to 53% in 2020.
o UNICEF: 71 percent of young women in India remain unaware of menstruation until their first
cycle.
o Bihar is the only state in India which has been providing two days of special leave every
month to its female employees since 1992.
o IMR (deaths of children less than 1 year per 1,000 live births): It has declined from 89 in
1990 to 28 in 2019.
o MMR (proportion of maternal deaths per 1,00,000 live births reported): It has declined from
130 in 2014-2016 to 122 in 2015-17.
o Expectation of Life at Birth: An Indian born in 1950 could expect to live for 37 years, whereas
today India’s life expectancy at birth nearly doubled to 68 years, by 2050, it is projected to
increase to 76 years.
o Decision making: 12% of currently married women (15-49 years of age) independently make
decisions about their own healthcare.

● Crimes Against Women:

o UN Women: referred to the rise in violence against women during the Covid-19 pandemic and
accompanying lockdowns as the “Shadow Pandemic”.
o Sexual Harassment: 31% of firms are not compliant with Prevention of Sexual Harassment at
workplace Act.
o Covid 19 and women: As per a survey recorded by UN, 66% of Indian women reported being
stressed due to additional duties of caregiving such as homeschooling and taking care of older
relatives along with increased cases of violence towards them.
o Domestic violence: Around 70% of women in India are victims of domestic violence, according
to a former Union Minister for Women and Child Development
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 o NCW: In 2020, between March 25 and May 31, 1,477 complaints of domestic violence were
made by women.
o NCRB 2019: Majority (30.9%) of all the 4.05 lakh cases under crimes against women are
registered under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

● Women and Political System:

o Inter-Parliamentary Union (2019): India ranks 153 out of 190 nations in the percentage of
women in the lower house of world parliaments.
o Global Gender Gap Report 2021: India is the third-worst performer country in South Asia.
o 73rd and 74th amendment: brought about a silent revolution by the provisions related to 33%
reservation for women in the institutions of local self-government.

● Women and Indian Economy:

o Economic Survey for 2020-21: the labor force participation rate of females in the productive
age (15-59 years) was 26.5 per cent in 2018-19, as compared to 80.3 per cent for males (rural +
urban).
o International Labor Organization (ILO): Women perform 76.2 per cent of total hours of
unpaid care work. This is three times more than similar work performed by men.
o Informal economy: According to the ILO, 81% of Indian women work in the informal
economy.
o Periodic Labor Force Survey (2018-19): women’s participation in the workforce fell to its
lowest points since Independence in 2017-18.
o McKinsey study: Indian women contributed just 17% of national GDP, which is less than half
the global average of 37%.
o IMF’s study: shown that raising women's participation in the workforce to the level of men can
boost the Indian economy by 27%.
o Contribution: The economic contribution of women is 17% of India’s GDP, less than half the
global average.
o Gender Gap Report 2021: India ranks 140th among 156 countries.

● Women in Agriculture:
o 10th Agriculture Census (2015-16): the percentage of female operational holdings in the
country has increased from about 13% percent during 2010-11 to around 14% during 2015-16.
o Employment: Agriculture sector employs 80% of all economically active women; they
comprise 33% of the agricultural labour force and 48% of self-employed farmers.
o NSSO Reports: about 18% of the farm families in India are headed by women.
o Economic Survey 2017-18: a rise in migration of men from rural to urban areas has resulted in
the feminization of agriculture.

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 ● Judiciary and Women

o At just 12% across the apex court and High Courts, there were still too few women in the
judiciary. The establishment of a truly just society would be possible only when the
participation of women increases in all areas including the judiciary.

o A 2018 study by Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy noted that while representation of women in
the lower judiciary is higher at 27%, they hit a glass ceiling in higher appointments — as
district judges and subsequently at the high court level.

CHILDREN
● Child population: India is the world’s largest democracy with a population of over a billion, 400
millions of which are children.
● ASER 2019: gap between learning outcomes of children with mothers who were educated upto
Standard 12th or higher was 40% more than children of uneducated mothers.
● Census 2011: around 10.1 million children were engaged in child labour in India.
● End of Childhood Index: India ranks 113 of 176 countries on the End of Childhood Index that
evaluates countries on the wellbeing of children.
● Crime against Children: Compared to 2016 crimes against children increased by nearly 28% in 2017.
In this case, UP ranks first, where such cases are registered 19% more than in 2016.

SENIOR CITIZENS
● Prediction: between the years 2000 and 2050, the population of India will grow by 55%. However, the
population above 60 years and 80 years will grow by 326% and 700% respectively. The percentage of
senior citizens is expected to go up in India from 8% in 2015 to 19 % in 2050.
● Census 2011: there are nearly 104 million elderly persons (aged 60 years or above) in India; 53 million
females and 51 million males.
● Report by United Nations Population Fund and Help Age India: suggests that the number of elderly
persons is expected to grow to 173 million by 2026.
● Residence: As regards rural and urban areas, 71% of elderly population resides in rural areas while 29
% is in urban areas.
● Major disability: Most common disability among the aged persons was locomotor disability and visual
disability - Census 2011

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DIFFERENTLY ABLED PERSONS
● Census 2011: In India, out of the total population of 121 crore, about 2.68 Cr persons are ‘Disabled’
(2.21% of the total population). Out of 2.68 crore, 1.5 crore are males and 1.18 crore are females.
● Status: 75 per cent of persons with disabilities live in rural areas; 49 per cent of disabled population
is literate; only 34 per cent are employed.
● Policy approach: The earlier emphasis on medical rehabilitation has now been replaced by an emphasis
on social rehabilitation.

TRANSGENDER
● Census 2011: there are 4,87,803 (0.04% of the total population) persons in the category called ‘other’;
● Children: Census 2011 also reported 55,000 children as transgender identified by their parents.
● Health issues: Transgender communities face several sexual health issues including HIV.

NGOs
● Tax: All NGOs are required to file income tax under Section 12A.
● Darpan Portal: More than 67,000 NGOs are registered with the NITI Aayog on their NGO Darpan
platform — which was created to bring about greater partnership.
● Under RTI: Earlier, various reports, including reports of CBI and Intelligence Bureau, have shown the
misappropriation of funds by a large number of NGOs, which could cost India around 2-3% of its GDP.

SHG
● About 1 crore SHGs with active bank linkages in India.
● Involvement of 10 crore people of India.
● The aggregate bank balance of about Rs.7000 crores.
● 90% of SHGs in India consist exclusively of women.

ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY

● Contribution of CSOs during COVID-19: According to a reply submitted by the central government
in the Supreme Court on 7th April, a total of approx. 84 lakh people were provided meals across the
country during the lockdown that started on 25th March.
● Overall, there were 9 states and UTs where NGOs fed more than 75% of the people who were provided
meals during the lockdown.

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