IASbaba's Flagship Course: Integrated Learning Programme (ILP) - 2024 Read Details
TOPIC:
General Studies 1
General Studies 2
General Studies 3
Introduction:
A major problem with India’s labour force is :the women are missing. Indian women are not only staying out of the workforce, they are doing so in increasing numbers across the board. FLFP(Female labour force participation rate) is typically measured as the share of women who are employed or are seeking work as a share of the working-age female population. The labour force participation rate (LFPR) for working-age women (15 years and older) is abysmally low in India. At about 27%, it performs only slightly better than Afghanistan, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
Census 2011 report: A total of 20.5% women were employed in the organized sector in 2011 with 18.1% working in the public sector and 24.3% in the private. The labour force participation rate for women across all age groups was 25.3 in rural sector and 15.5 in urban sector compared with 55.3 and 56.3 for men in the rural and urban sector respectively.
Why improving female LFPR is important?
Reasons behind low LFPR for women:
Low LFPR for urban women:
Urban women seem to be the big drag on women’s overall LFPR despite the country’s supposedly booming women-friendly services sector.
Gender segmentation:
The World Bank’s report finds a clear pattern of gender segmentation in both manufacturing and services, where, for instance, about 90% of employees in female-owned business in unorganized manufacturing are females.
Gender segmentation is a double-edged sword in the sense that just like female-owned or female-led firms tend to hire more female workers, male owners and employers have the same tendencies.
In the long run, such extreme levels of gender segmentation are obviously undesirable and inefficient.
Every cloud has a silver lining:
The World Bank’s report draws attention to an interesting insight: Women employers tend to hire a significantly greater number of women. This is partly the result of the kind of businesses that women set up in what is already a heavily gendered labour force. For example, a beauty salon or a small tailoring unit owned by a woman can be expected to mostly hire other women. Also, many of these women-owned firms have only a single worker, which also skews the picture. But the trend holds true even in medium-sized firms. This lends credence to the idea that a targeted focus on women’s entrepreneurship might be the tool needed to improve the labour force’s gender balance. It should be seen as a catalysing opportunity that will bring more women into the workforce.
Way ahead:
A multifaceted response is required:
Encouraging women entrepreneurship:
India currently ranks 70 out of 77 nations on the Female Entrepreneurship Index, but moving up that index might not be as difficult as it seems. Certainly, long-term, structural reforms are needed but in the short term there are a few examples from around the world that indicate how targeted policy measures can deliver specific goals even when the rest of the infrastructure (such as ease of doing business, access to credit facilities and affordable childcare) may not be in place.
Case study: A good example here is Bangladesh, where the export-oriented garment industry has brought a large section of women into the workforce. It ranks sixth among 54 countries on ‘women business ownership’, while India is at the bottom of the pile along with Iran, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Conclusion: India needs to take gender segmentation as an opportunity. We need to increase women entrepreneurship. Thus women will be creating jobs and opportunities for themselves, and bringing other women on board. In short, if India’s growth story has to translate into shared prosperity for all its people, then it cannot afford to have one half of its population sit out.
Connecting the dots:
TOPIC: General Studies 2
- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain severed their diplomatic ties with Qatar on 5 th , June 2017, accusing it of supporting terrorism and opening up the worst rift in years among some of the most powerful states in the Arab world.
Qatar:
State of Qatar is a high-income economy, backed by the world’s third largest natural gas reserves and oil reserves. The country has the highest per capita income in the world. Qatar is classified as a country of very high human development and is the most advanced Arab state for human development. Qatar is a significant power in the Arab world, supporting several rebel groups during the Arab Spring both financially and through its globally expanding media group, Al Jazeera Media Network. Qatar is a constitutional monarchy, ruled by the house of Thani since 19 th century. The Emir of Qatar is the head of state and head of government.
What is Gulf Cooperation Council ?
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Bahrain and Oman came together in 1981 to form Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the motive was increased cooperation amongst themselves and a decreased dependence on foreign powers.This move was inspired by certain major events from the late 70s (the Iranian revolution of 1978-79, the soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and the Iran-Iraq war) that made it imperative for the Gulf countries to come together more cohesively both for economic and security reasons.
Reason behind the crisis:
Rift between GCC and Qatar: Most GCC nations have had long-standing issues with Qatar. On several occasions Qatar has been criticized by its Arab neighbors of extending support to Islamic terrorist organizations – ‘Muslim Brotherhood’, a Sunni Islamist political group outlawed by Saudi Arabia and UAE. Qatar has been for long, blamed for using its media and political clout to support long-repressed Islamists during the 2011 pro-democracy “Arab Spring” uprisings in several Arab countries.
Ramifications of the Qatar blockade:
The Qatar blockade will have interesting geo-political ramifications.
Effects on India: Instability in Qatar could also have adverse effects for India.
Conclusion: While Saudi Arabia and partners have escalated matters with Qatar significantly, de-escalation may take time, and is harder to orchestrate as is in most such cases. Both Qatar and the Saudi-led GCC members will need to find a common ground for their grievances, but a long-drawn diplomatic rift of such nature has more adverse affects for Qatar than the others. What West Asia requires is a united front against terror and lowering of Saudi-Iran tensions. Opening new fronts in the rivalry will only destabilise the region further.
Connecting the dots:
A passage through Europe
Undemocratic and majoritarian
Maha farm crisis
The President should be a voice for sanity and fairness
Whose prestige?
The waiting game
Transacting with U.S.
Philanthropy for higher education
GM mustard should not go the Bt Brinjal way
Loose ends in GST
How to phase out participatory-notes