The Hindu Editorial Analysis- 12th July 2025 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - UPSC PDF Download

View India’s Gender Gap Report Ranking as a Warning

Why is it Important?

• India is a strong global economy and a leader in digital innovation, with the largest youth population in the world. 
•  However, the Global Gender Gap Report 2025 by the World Economic Forum shows that India is still far behind in terms of gender equality. 

India's Gender Equality Ranking and Challenges

• India ranks 131 out of 148 countries in the Global Gender Gap Report.
• The country scores particularly low in economic participation and health and survival, which are crucial for achieving gender equality.
• These low scores indicate not just social issues but also structural problems that hinder national progress.

Women's Health and Autonomy

• Despite improvements in education, India struggles to ensure women's health and autonomy.
• The sex ratio at birth is heavily skewed, reflecting ongoing son preference.
• Women's healthy life expectancy is now lower than that of men, indicating chronic neglect in reproductive health, preventive care, and nutrition, especially for women in low-income and rural areas.
• There is an urgent need for increased budget allocations for women's health, particularly at the primary care level, to improve access to education and basic health services.
• Nearly 57% of Indian women aged 15 to 49 are anaemic, which affects their ability to learn, work, and have healthy pregnancies. This widespread issue highlights the failure to prioritize women's health in national development.

Economic Participation and Opportunity

• India ranks 143rd in economic participation, with very low female labor force participation rates.
• Women earn less than one-third of what men make, indicating significant wage disparity.
• The potential gain to India’s GDP by closing gender gaps is estimated at $770 billion by 2025, but current progress suggests this goal will be missed.
• At the current rate, it could take over a century to close the economic gender gap, with India lagging behind global trends.

Women's Employment and Representation

• Women are heavily involved in informal and subsistence work but are under-represented in decision-making roles, such as in boardrooms and budget committees.
• This lack of representation leads to policies that often overlook women's realities and needs.
• The burden of unpaid care work significantly limits women’s time and agency, further hindering their economic participation.

Unpaid Care Work

•  Indian women perform nearly seven times more unpaid domestic work than men, according to the Time Use Survey. 
•  Despite its importance, this unpaid labour is not reflected in national accounts and is underfunded in public policy. 

Investment in Care Infrastructure

• Investing in care infrastructure, such as childcare centres, elder care services, and maternity benefits, could alleviate the burden of unpaid care work and enable more women to join or re-enter the workforce.
• The current lack of these services represents a significant gender and economic blind spot.

Policy Recommendations

• To address these issues, both Central and State governments should incorporate unpaid care work into economic and social policies through measures like time-use surveys, gender budgeting, and direct investment in care infrastructure.
• India can learn from countries like Uruguay and South Korea, which have successfully integrated care economies into their development plans with positive results.

Demographic Shift and Economic Necessity

• India is at a demographic crossroads, with the percentage of senior citizens expected to nearly double by 2050, reaching close to 20% of the population.
• This shift will involve a significant increase in very old women, particularly widows, who often have high care needs.
• Fertility rates have fallen below the replacement level, further impacting the demographic balance.
• As the working-age population shrinks and the need for elderly care rises, it is crucial to ensure that women—who make up half the population—are healthy, supported, and economically active.
• Achieving gender equality is not just a matter of rights but a demographic and economic necessity for India's future.

Risks and Policy Needs

• If women continue to exit the workforce, it will increase the dependency ratio, putting more strain on fewer workers and creating fiscal risks.
• To prevent this, it is essential to promote women’s re-entry into the workforce and ensure their inclusion.
• Integrated health, labour, and social protection policies are necessary to address these challenges and support women’s participation in the workforce.

Conclusion

• India has the frameworks and ambition for gender equality, but what is needed is substantial investment in public health systems focused on women’s needs, care services that help redistribute unpaid work, and policies that recognize women as active contributors to the economy.
• The Global Gender Gap Report should be seen as a warning. if India does not prioritize gender equality in its economic and demographic planning, it risks jeopardizing the significant progress it has made.

English Dreams

 Why in News? 

 The medium of instruction in India has been a contentious issue, especially with the growing demand for English medium education. While many parents aspire for their children to be educated in English, state policies have varied significantly over time and across regions. This variation is influenced by factors such as linguistic diversity, constitutional rights, and political agendas, including the three-language policy advocated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The debate raises important questions about how to balance mother tongue instruction, English education, and social equity in a country with such diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. 

Medium of Instruction in Indian Education

•  There is a strong aspiration among many Indians for English medium education. 
•  However, state policies regarding the medium of instruction have been inconsistent across different times and regions. 
•  The ongoing language debate in India is partly driven by the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) push for a three-language policy, with the medium of instruction being a key issue. 

Educational and Constitutional Perspectives

•  Educationists generally believe that teaching children in their mother tongue helps them learn better in the early stages. 
•  Pedagogical research supports mother tongue instruction, but this cannot ignore constitutional rights and real-world factors. 
•  India’s vast linguistic diversity makes it difficult to define a child’s mother tongue clearly in many cases. 
•  The freedom of expression and choice is also protected under the Constitution. 
•  In 2014, the Supreme Court ruled against a Karnataka government order (1994) that made Kannada mandatory until Class 4, stating that children have the right to choose their medium of instruction. 
•  Private schools have the right to offer education based on market demand, adding another dimension to this issue. 

National Education Policy and English Medium Demand

•  The National Education Policy (NEP), promoted strongly by the Centre, has an anti-English stance, which conflicts with popular demand. 
•  Many states aim to promote their local languages and cultures while also supporting English education and English as a medium of instruction. 
•  States like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu have aided English medium schools. 
•  The demand for English medium education is rising across India, including Hindi-speaking regions. 
•  This demand is mainly met by private institutions, which are often expensive and of lower quality. 

Social and Economic Impact of English Education

•  English skills are crucial for individuals and India’s position in the global services sector. 
•  Subaltern caste groups especially see English education as a key to empowerment and upward social mobility. 
•  When state schools don’t offer English medium education, wealthier families access it through private schools, worsening social inequality. 
•  Education, instead of reducing inequality, often ends up reproducing or increasing social divides. 
•  Knowledge of English is empowering and can lead to many positive outcomes. 
•  While there can be debate about whether English should be the medium at the primary level, the most important test for any policy is whether it supports the ambitions of the most disadvantaged sections of society.