V
V.Balasubramani
Guest
‘Indian women hardly have any say in decision making’
NEW DELHI: Women empowerment may be the key slogan for every government since independence, but the findings of a government report show women still lag way behind men in having a say in decision making and in their participation in economic activity.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO)'s publication "Women and Men in India 2014" found that women occupied seven out of 45 ministerial positions in the Narendra Modi's council of ministers, which is a little more than 15%, against around 10% in 2004.
In 2014 general election, only 62 females have been elected constituting more than 11% share in the 16th Lok Sabha.
Though female participation in elections went up from 56% in 15th Lok Sabha elections to 66% in the current one (16th Lok Sabha) in 2014, the male participation also improved from 60% to 67% during the same period.
Out of 62 women parliamentarians, 20 are in the age group 41-50. As far as qualifications and professions go, 34% of the women MPs are social & political workers and 44% post graduates. Among male members, the maximum (31%) are from an agricultural background, 42% are graduates & only 29% are postgraduates.
Read more: ?Indian women hardly have any say in decision making? - The Times of India
