Is India truly progressing towards gender equality, or are its gains being undermined by persistent gaps in key areas, especially political representation? As metrics in education, health, and economic participation show incremental advances, a sharp decline in political empowerment casts a shadow over development
According to the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Global Gender Gap Report, India poses a conundrum. The global rating of India has fallen from 129 to 131 out of 148 international locations, no matter its gain in its overall gender parity rating, which went from 64.1 per cent to 64.4 per cent.
The quantity and sustainability of the improvements made are known as a query by means of this improvement. Is India making progress toward gender equality, or is this improvement being overshadowed by other areas in which development has been relatively gradual?
The Metrics Behind the Movement
The Global Gender Gap Index evaluates gender parity in four different areas: political empowerment, health and survival, educational attainment, and economic involvement and opportunities. India’s score in three of these categories has remained stable or improved. However, the total performance has been significantly impacted by the loss of political empowerment.
India’s score in 3 of these categories has remained solid or progressed. However, the entire overall performance has been appreciably impacted by the loss of political empowerment.
India has made quantifiable strides in a number of regions, along with monetary participation and possibility. One of the number one factors of the 0.9 per cent factor increase on this subindex’s rating is the development in parity in predicted earned income, which accelerated from 28.6 per cent to 29.9 per cent.
This minor upward thrust is massive given the ancient gender-based economic disparity in India. Women endured to take part in the labour pressure on the best price in India’s history, at 45.9 per cent. Regardless of this stability, the commercial enterprise keeps facing problems which include informality, wage inequality, and a lack of social guarantees.
Some other regions of development indicated instructional attainment. India’s rating extended to 97.1 per cent, reflecting nearly frequent literacy parity and better female tertiary schooling attendance. Secondary-level enrolment figures have come to be further encouraging, and ladies’ gross enrolment now marginally surpasses boys’. Even though there’s nevertheless a giant gap between educational attainment and professional potentialities.
India’s parity score in Health and Survival has improved as a result of longer healthy life expectancy and a better birth — sex ratio. Maternal health initiatives and increased access to healthcare programs like Ayushman Bharat have contributed to a more than 50 per cent decrease in maternal mortality over the past ten years. The overall ranking has dropped due to a sharp reduction in the Political Empowerment dimension, despite improvements in economic, health, and education metrics. The proportion of women in cabinet positions fell from 6.5 per cent to 5.6 per cent, while their representation in Parliament fell from 14.7 per cent to 13.8 per cent. These decreases are part of a longer-term downward trend that began in 2023. Given that the Women’s Reservation Act of 2023 calls for a one-third reservation for women in state assemblies and parliament, this is especially disheartening.
However, this law won’t take effect until after the general elections in 2029 due to continuing procedures like the national census and delimitation. In the meanwhile, few political parties have taken explicit steps to increase female representation, and they are not constitutionally compelled to do so. In India, women have long fought for political representation.
The Women’s Reservation Bill was passed after various parliamentary hurdles and more than thirty years. This delay further solidifies the long-standing opposition to female leadership in Indian Governmental institutions and demonstrates a lack of political will.
South Asia and Beyond
When compared to its South Asian neighbours and the BRICS countries, India’s relative decline becomes even more apparent. Stronger political representation and more successful grassroots empowerment initiatives are the main reasons why nations like Bangladesh and Nepal have outperformed India in gender parity rankings. India’s performance appears particularly low when viewed from this regional perspective, underscoring the urgent need for policy reform.
Furthermore, India still does poorly on measures like the employment — education divide, which should ideally demonstrate greater synergy.
Women make up less than 20 per cent of the workforce and contribute a small portion of the GDP, despite high rates of reading and graduation. Oxfam India 2020 research found that women’s unpaid labour contributes around `19 lakh crore to the economy annually, which traditional economic measurements do not account for.
Bridging the Gap
Even while India has made significant progress towards achieving gender parity in economic inclusion, health, and education, the systemic obstacles that prevent women from fully participating in society still exist. India must implement comprehensive, inclusive, and long-term policy reforms to address important structural concerns if it hopes to go beyond small achievements to revolutionary effects.
Policy Gaps
The delayed implementation of the Women’s Reservation Act, which was passed in 2023, is one of the most obvious gaps. It appears unlikely that the plan to reserve a third of seats in State Assemblies and Parliament would be carried out before 2029. In addition to representation, this delay affects the wider ramifications of having women in leadership roles, including the allocation of resources and t he formulation of policies.
Furthermore, even if women’s labour market participation is at its highest point ever — 45.9 per cent — this number conceals a number of issues, including salary inequities, the quality of jobs, their prominence in the unorganised sector, and the absence of social protections. The majority of working women still have low-wage, precarious occupations with few opportunities for growth.
Similar to this, even if initiatives like Jan Dhan Yojana and MUDRA loans have improved financial inclusion, it is still surface. According to the World Bank’s Findex Survey, one-third of all women’s accounts remain dormant. Despite having bank accounts, women continue to struggle with financial independence and decision-making.
Social and Cultural Norms
Patriarchal conventions still limit women’s freedom, independence, and involvement. Gender roles are embedded from a young age and influence financial decisions, career choices, and leadership ambitions. Early marriage is still common and daughters are still viewed as liabilities in many rural areas of India, which hinders progress in school and the workplace.
Women still experience the glass ceiling and glass cliff in metropolitan environments, where they are either excluded from leadership positions or assigned to unstable ones. According to a McKinsey analysis, reducing the gender employment gap might boost India’s GDP by $770 billion by 2025. However, this promise is still mostly unrealised.
Policy for Accelerated Progress
India needs to take a comprehensive, whole-of-society strategy in order to attain true gender parity. Implementing employment and skill development initiatives that provide women with digital and vocational training is a top priority, especially in high-growth industries like technology, clean energy, and logistics.
Gender-sensitive labour regulations should include provisions for flexible work schedules, workplace safety, and equitable remuneration. Increased political representation and mentorship initiatives are necessary to support women’s leadership. With ministries and state Governments allocating funding according to gendered demands and outcomes, gender-responsive budgeting is crucial. Additionally important are reasonably priced child care and assistance for self-help groups via digital literacy and business training. Education changes should encourage girls to pursue STEM fields and emphasise gender sensitisation from an early age. Progress will be monitored and accountability will be enhanced by routine data gathering via a national gender dashboard. Investing in women is not just about equality; it is also a significant driver of inclusive development and economic success in India. Gender parity is crucial if India is to grow into a $5 trillion economy and a major world power. According to the facts, families succeed, communities flourish, and the national GDP increases when women are economically empowered, educated, and healthy. The best strategy to guarantee long-term socioeconomic resilience is to invest in women.
(Hemangi Sinha is Project Head at World Intellectual Foundation and Sakshi Chaudhary is a researcher. Views are personal)