OPSC Mains Questions (OCS 2024)
Essay Paper
- Freedom is not mere absence of restraints.
- Gender is a social construct.
- Visibility is mistaken for values.
- Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
- The Sun is new each day.
General Studies I
- In the age of climate change, global warming plays a critical role in melting of snow and ice cover. Discuss with suitable examples.
- Critically analyse with examples what are tangible heritage and intangible heritage in the context of Odisha.
- Explain how the Bhauma-Kara and Somavamsi dynasties contributed to the political consolidation and cultural transformation of early-medieval Odisha.
- What is social empowerment? Explain how the policies of social empowerment have been implemented in India with the examples from Odisha State.
- Discuss how the Bhakti Movement transformed religious practices and social relations in medieval Odisha.
- Discuss briefly the role of the Archaeological Survey of India.
- What are the different types of forest found in Odisha and how these forests play an important role in biodiversity?
- Explicate the nature of regional development in Odisha State.
- Give a detailed account of the drainage system of Odisha.
- Odisha’s festivals reflect its cultural pluralism and social harmony. Cite some examples.
- Assess the major factors that led to the creation of the separate province of Odisha in 1936.
- Analyse the causes, course and historical significance of the Paika Rebellion of 1817 in Odisha.
- Analyse the role of Odia literature in shaping regional cultural identity.
- Explain how climatic factors play important role for the development of various landforms.
- Indian caste system is paradoxical in nature, characterised both by staticity and fluidity. Discuss.
- Assess the major developments in the final phase of the National Movement and explain why Independence became unavoidable by 1947.
- What are the geomorphic hazards? Discuss various measures to mitigate such hazards.
General Studies II
- Discuss the nature and problems of coalition Governments in India. Analyse the challenges of coalition politics in Indian federal system.
- “Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Electoral rolls is a strategic exercise by the Election Commission of India.” Examine this statement in the context of its significance and challenges.
- What is Presidential Reference? What are its nature and objectives? Discuss the views of the Supreme Court on recent Presidential Reference.
- The Government of India’s initiative is to democratise the training process and address the issues in existing civil service system. Discuss this statement in the light of Karmayogi Mission.
- “Environmental justice in India is feasible through the National Green Tribunal.” Examine this statement in the framework of National Green Tribunal Act.
- What structural challenges are required to be addressed to achieve Viksit Odisha for Viksit Bharat as per the vision document of the Government?
- “The role of Finance Commission in upholding Fiscal Federalism is important.” Critically analyse. Discuss briefly the terms of reference of 16th Finance Commission.
- “Constitutional morality is not a natural sentiment. It has to be cultivated.” What is constitutional morality vis-a-vis the social morality in the Indian context? Discuss its scope and purpose. Discuss a few landmark judgements of the Supreme Court on constitutional morality.
- Why is the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) considered vital for ensuring an effective governance? What are the constitutional safeguards the CAG enjoys?
- What has been the development index of women in Odisha? What have been the most successful schemes implemented in the recent years for the welfare of women in the State?
- Discuss the causes and consequences of bonded labour in Odisha. Discuss the steps taken by the Odisha Government in tackling the problem. What are the bottlenecks in implementation?
- Discuss the structure and function of the State Election Commission. Suggest measures for its reform.
- Explain the relevant constitutional provisions which underline the strong-centre framework adopted by the Constituent Assembly. Which were the factors which led the Assembly members to have such a federal design?
- Why is a Democratic Government called a limited and responsible Government? Explain the doctrine of checks and balances while mentioning the relevant constitutional provisions as applicable to India’s constitutional democracy.
- Discuss the challenges Panchayati Raj Institutions continue to face in India despite the implementation of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment With special reference to Gram Panchayats in Odisha. Suggest doable reforms in both general terms and in the specific context of Odisha.
- Examine the significance of Cash Transfer Schemes in India. Bring out its positive and negative effects.
- “Despite many e-governance practices, digital exclusion is a reality depriving many from the fruits of governance.” Explain the causes and consequences of digital execution and people affected by it. What remedial measures are required to address the problem?
General Studies III
- What do you mean by ‘Dutch disease’? How do the authors use this concept to explain the Indian economy in their book A Sixth of Humanity?
- Discuss the evolution of India’s biodiversity legal framework and critically examine the key changes and impact of the NBA Regulations, 2025.
- What is space debris? What are its challenges and redressal? How did it affect China’s Spacecraft recently?
- Analyse economies of livestock rearing as a big potential for generating non-farm employment in rural areas. Discuss some measures undertaken by the Odisha Government to promote this sector.
- Discuss the mandate and role of Special Operation Group (SOG) of Odisha Police in combating left-wing extremist problem in Odisha. Has the group achieved its objective? Explain.
- Ethanol blending in petrol is considered one of the promising solutions for reducing dependence on fossil fuels in the transport sector. Discuss the scientific and economic justification for ethanol blending in petrol, its major benefits and key challenges. Evaluate alternative clean transport solutions and compare their long-term sustainability with ethanol blending.
- Discuss the present infrastructure and capacity of India’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). What expansion has been planned and what is the future outlook in this regard? Explain.
- Do you think that the small average size of landholdings is an impediment to productivity growth in Indian agriculture? Justify your answer.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in promoting sustainability in India’s infrastructure megaprojects. How can institutional frameworks be strengthened for integrated environmental planning and decision-making?
- India’s border regions face unique security challenges due to their geographical, socio-economic and political conditions. Discuss the security threats in India’s border areas with reference to linkages between organized crime and terrorism.
- How do Google or any other software-based maps work? On what basis, they suggest shortest or less congestion routes?
- Discuss the structure and key priorities of the Odisha State Budget. To what extent does the budget reflect the state’s social development goals and in what ways does it diverge from them?
- Who is a ‘money mule’? How does this happen and what are the consequences? What actions are being taken by the Reserve Bank of India in this regard? Suggest some remedial measures to control it.
- Discuss the road map of Vikshit Odisha for Vikshit Bharat, its core goals and strategies, core pillars and focus areas and its targets. Are the same feasible in a short time period? Give your opinion.
- Critically examine the SHANTI Act, 2025 with respect to its objectives, key provisions and concerns. Will this Act aid India’s nuclear development? Discuss.
- The easing of sulphur emission standards for coal-fired power plants represents a significant rollback of environmental regulation. Critically evaluate its impact on India’s air quality goals, climate commitments and environmental justice, particularly in vulnerable and marginalised regions.
- Discuss the role of micro-irrigation in increasing the water-use efficiency in India. How do you relate the changes in cropping pattern with the development of irrigation system in the country?
General Studies IV
- “The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.” – Bertrand Russell. In the light of this quote, examine the importance of two qualities viz., open-mindedness and intellectual humility for a public servant.
- Ram and Shyam are twin brothers raised in the same family. They both study in the same school. Ram is a bright student and excels academically. Shyam is not good at studies but is a keen learner otherwise. Later in life. Ram clears a competitive civil services examination and joins Government service in a senior position. Shyam blooms as a successful businessman. Within a few years, Shyam has grown rich, owns a mansion and lives a life of luxury. Ram, who is an honest civil servant, receives a modest salary and cannot afford luxurious lifestyle enjoyed by his brother Shyam. Colleagues and friends of Ram cajole him to turn corrupt and make money. Ram, however, remains convinced that he is ‘servant’ of public and his duty is to serve the nation and people selflessly. His friends dismiss his argument as ‘impractical idealism’. With whom do you agree and why? Would a handsome increase in the salary of public servants be an appropriate response to the problem of corruption in bureaucracy? Discuss.
- Manish is an upright officer of Forest Department. He clears the licence application of a rich timber merchant after observing due procedure. A few days later, the timber merchant sends an expensive wooden sofa-set and a dining table set to the residence of Manish when Manish is away on tour. When Manish returns home, he is upset that the furniture has been gifted to him by the merchant without even mentioning about it to him. He immediately telephones the merchant and conveys his displeasure, asking the merchant to take the furniture away. The merchant explains that the furniture is a ‘small gift’ and there is nothing unusual about it, being a common practice. Wife of Manish, who is overhearing the conversation, suggests that the timber merchant can be paid the price of the furniture as the house badly needed some good furniture. Accordingly, Manish offers to pay the price. The timber merchant reluctantly agrees to accept payment from Manish. He quotes a ridiculously low price for the furniture. The merchant explains that he runs a huge furniture making factory and costs incurred by him are really low. Manish agrees to the offer and pay the quoted price to the timber merchant. What are your views about the ethicality of the conduct of Manish in this incident? Do you think Manish should have acted differently? Has Manish acted in a corrupt manner? Discuss with reasons.
- Mohan is an upright and honest Block Development Officer. But, his honest style of working has generated bad blood with some junior officers who are corrupt. One morning, a destitute woman appears before Mohan and requests him to approve her Ration Card application. She has already approached a junior officer, but her request has been turned down as she does not have Aadhaar Card which is a requirement as per rules. After examining the case, Mohan realises that the woman is entitled to have a Ration Card and non-availability of Aadhaar Card is a mere paper formality. Mohan has the administrative power to grant Ration Card without Aadhaar Card in exceptional cases, using his discretionary powers. He, however, apprehends that in case he approves the Ration Card, he would be accused of using his power for making money through corrupt means. The junior officers who hold a grudge against Mohan are looking for such an opportunity when they can paint Mohan as a corrupt officer. Mohan is wondering if he should run the risk of sullying his reputation for the sake of a poor woman. What advice would you tender to Mohan in this situation and why?
- The Right to Information Act entitles every citizen of the country to seek information from any Government entity, without giving any reason for seeking the information. This has arguably cast a huge burden on the Government departments to satisfy the information seekers. Are you in favour or against this arrangement? Justify your answer with supporting examples.
- Do you think that emotional intelligence is a significant factor in making of a good public servant? Why? Between the intellectual prowess and emotional intelligence, which should get priority while selecting a public servant?
- Several decisions taken by the Government are declared to have been taken in ‘public interest’. (Many laws, regulations and rules provide that the Government can act in a certain manner if warranted by the ‘public interest’) What do you understand by the term ‘public interest’? Can there be any objective criterion to decide what is in public interest and what is not? Explain with an example.
- Conduct rules governing public servants put certain restrictions on them covering social, financial and personal matters. Their right to participate in political activities and right to expression is also circumscribed Do you think that the Government is justified in curtailing the civil rights of the Government servants? Discuss.
- What do you understand by environmental ethics and our duty towards maintaining biodiversity, non-human life on earth and responsible self-sustaining use of natural resources? The Constitution lays down duty to protect and improve the natural environment as one of the Fundamental Duties for every citizen of India, Is this an absolute duty or does it admit of exceptions in consideration of practicality?
- While India is not a signatory to the International Convention relating to Status of Refugees, several persons who have entered India without valid documents keep seeking refugee status in India. In this context, the issue of allowing basic facilities to Rohingya refugees from Myanmar has been before the Supreme Court of India. Do we have a moral obligation to provide shelter to refugees on humanitarian grounds, particularly when a section of our own population is living in poverty? Discuss.
- Some thinkers argue that gender equality is not innate to Indian society as the main stream cultural values and religious beliefs promote misogynist attitudes. How far do you agree with this view? What role can ethical governance play in ensuring gender justice and women empowerment? Suggest some steps that the Government can take to promote gender equality in the country.
- In modern age, several corporate houses have grown huge with their financial outlay being bigger than the budget of many countries. In this context, explain the necessity of ethical decision making in corporate governance? Would your answer be different in case of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs)?
- “It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to sound of trumpets.” – Voltaire. In the light of this quote, examine the importance of two qualities viz., open-mindedness and intellectual humility for a public servant.
- “Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through.” Examine this quote by Jonathan Swift in the light of our nation’s objective to emerge as a fair, just and egalitarian society. (What effective and practical steps would you take as a public servant to ensure that the law is applied to all in an impartial and non-partisan manner?)
- “I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Will he gain anything by it? Will it restore him to a control over his own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to Swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and yourself melt away.” – Mahatma Gandhi. In the light of above quote, discuss the role of a public servant in a welfare state. Do you think that the test suggested above by Gandhiji can be applied in all situations faced by a public servant in present day complex world?
- Can scientific temper and traditional cultural values coexist in a society? What can possibly be areas of conflict? Has Indian society been able to reconcile the two? Give some examples.
- A doctor with expertise in organ transplant comes across five different patients needing organ donation. These patients badly need five vital body organs, one each, to survive. The doctor meets a perfectly healthy person, and without obtaining his consent, removes five organs from his body and transplants the organs in his five patients, thereby giving them gift of life. When questioned, the doctor claims his action to be completely ethical as he saved five lives by sacrificing just one life. He quotes the utilitarian theory of ethics given by philosopher Jeremy Bentham that highest good of highest number is the essence of an ethical action. Do you agree with the argument of the doctor? Give your reasons.
Recent Posts
Steve Ovett, the famous British middle-distance athlete, won the 800-metres gold medal at the Moscow Olympics of 1980. Just a few days later, he was about to win a 5,000-metres race at London’s Crystal Palace. Known for his burst of acceleration on the home stretch, he had supreme confidence in his ability to out-sprint rivals. With the final 100 metres remaining,
[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]Ovett waved to the crowd and raised a hand in triumph. But he had celebrated a bit too early. At the finishing line, Ireland’s John Treacy edged past Ovett. For those few moments, Ovett had lost his sense of reality and ignored the possibility of a negative event.
This analogy works well for the India story and our policy failures , including during the ongoing covid pandemic. While we have never been as well prepared or had significant successes in terms of growth stability as Ovett did in his illustrious running career, we tend to celebrate too early. Indeed, we have done so many times before.
It is as if we’re convinced that India is destined for greater heights, come what may, and so we never run through the finish line. Do we and our policymakers suffer from a collective optimism bias, which, as the Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman once wrote, “may well be the most significant of the cognitive biases”? The optimism bias arises from mistaken beliefs which form expectations that are better than the reality. It makes us underestimate chances of a negative outcome and ignore warnings repeatedly.
The Indian economy had a dream run for five years from 2003-04 to 2007-08, with an average annual growth rate of around 9%. Many believed that India was on its way to clocking consistent double-digit growth and comparisons with China were rife. It was conveniently overlooked that this output expansion had come mainly came from a few sectors: automobiles, telecom and business services.
Indians were made to believe that we could sprint without high-quality education, healthcare, infrastructure or banking sectors, which form the backbone of any stable economy. The plan was to build them as we went along, but then in the euphoria of short-term success, it got lost.
India’s exports of goods grew from $20 billion in 1990-91 to over $310 billion in 2019-20. Looking at these absolute figures it would seem as if India has arrived on the world stage. However, India’s share of global trade has moved up only marginally. Even now, the country accounts for less than 2% of the world’s goods exports.
More importantly, hidden behind this performance was the role played by one sector that should have never made it to India’s list of exports—refined petroleum. The share of refined petroleum exports in India’s goods exports increased from 1.4% in 1996-97 to over 18% in 2011-12.
An import-intensive sector with low labour intensity, exports of refined petroleum zoomed because of the then policy regime of a retail price ceiling on petroleum products in the domestic market. While we have done well in the export of services, our share is still less than 4% of world exports.
India seemed to emerge from the 2008 global financial crisis relatively unscathed. But, a temporary demand push had played a role in the revival—the incomes of many households, both rural and urban, had shot up. Fiscal stimulus to the rural economy and implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission scales had led to the salaries of around 20% of organized-sector employees jumping up. We celebrated, but once again, neither did we resolve the crisis brewing elsewhere in India’s banking sector, nor did we improve our capacity for healthcare or quality education.
Employment saw little economy-wide growth in our boom years. Manufacturing jobs, if anything, shrank. But we continued to celebrate. Youth flocked to low-productivity service-sector jobs, such as those in hotels and restaurants, security and other services. The dependence on such jobs on one hand and high-skilled services on the other was bound to make Indian society more unequal.
And then, there is agriculture, an elephant in the room. If and when farm-sector reforms get implemented, celebrations would once again be premature. The vast majority of India’s farmers have small plots of land, and though these farms are at least as productive as larger ones, net absolute incomes from small plots can only be meagre.
A further rise in farm productivity and consequent increase in supply, if not matched by a demand rise, especially with access to export markets, would result in downward pressure on market prices for farm produce and a further decline in the net incomes of small farmers.
We should learn from what John Treacy did right. He didn’t give up, and pushed for the finish line like it was his only chance at winning. Treacy had years of long-distance practice. The same goes for our economy. A long grind is required to build up its base before we can win and celebrate. And Ovett did not blame anyone for his loss. We play the blame game. Everyone else, right from China and the US to ‘greedy corporates’, seems to be responsible for our failures.
We have lowered absolute poverty levels and had technology-based successes like Aadhaar and digital access to public services. But there are no short cuts to good quality and adequate healthcare and education services. We must remain optimistic but stay firmly away from the optimism bias.
In the end, it is not about how we start, but how we finish. The disastrous second wave of covid and our inability to manage it is a ghastly reminder of this fact.
On March 31, the World Economic Forum (WEF) released its annual Gender Gap Report 2021. The Global Gender Gap report is an annual report released by the WEF. The gender gap is the difference between women and men as reflected in social, political, intellectual, cultural, or economic attainments or attitudes. The gap between men and women across health, education, politics, and economics widened for the first time since records began in 2006.
[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]No need to remember all the data, only pick out few important ones to use in your answers.
The Global gender gap index aims to measure this gap in four key areas : health, education, economics, and politics. It surveys economies to measure gender disparity by collating and analyzing data that fall under four indices : economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.
The 2021 Global Gender Gap Index benchmarks 156 countries on their progress towards gender parity. The index aims to serve as a compass to track progress on relative gaps between women and men in health, education, economy, and politics.
Although no country has achieved full gender parity, the top two countries (Iceland and Finland) have closed at least 85% of their gap, and the remaining seven countries (Lithuania, Namibia, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Rwanda, and Ireland) have closed at least 80% of their gap. Geographically, the global top 10 continues to be dominated by Nordic countries, with —Iceland, Norway, Finland, and Sweden—in the top five.
The top 10 is completed by one country from Asia Pacific (New Zealand 4th), two Sub-Saharan countries (Namibia, 6th and Rwanda, 7th, one country from Eastern Europe (the new entrant to the top 10, Lithuania, 8th), and another two Western European countries (Ireland, 9th, and Switzerland, 10th, another country in the top-10 for the first time).There is a relatively equitable distribution of available income, resources, and opportunities for men and women in these countries. The tremendous gender gaps are identified primarily in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia.
Here, we can discuss the overall global gender gap scores across the index’s four main components : Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment.
The indicators of the four main components are
(1) Economic Participation and Opportunity:
o Labour force participation rate,
o wage equality for similar work,
o estimated earned income,
o Legislators, senior officials, and managers,
o Professional and technical workers.
(2) Educational Attainment:
o Literacy rate (%)
o Enrollment in primary education (%)
o Enrollment in secondary education (%)
o Enrollment in tertiary education (%).
(3) Health and Survival:
o Sex ratio at birth (%)
o Healthy life expectancy (years).
(4) Political Empowerment:
o Women in Parliament (%)
o Women in Ministerial positions (%)
o Years with a female head of State (last 50 years)
o The share of tenure years.
The objective is to shed light on which factors are driving the overall average decline in the global gender gap score. The analysis results show that this year’s decline is mainly caused by a reversal in performance on the Political Empowerment gap.
Global Trends and Outcomes:
– Globally, this year, i.e., 2021, the average distance completed to gender parity gap is 68% (This means that the remaining gender gap to close stands at 32%) a step back compared to 2020 (-0.6 percentage points). These figures are mainly driven by a decline in the performance of large countries. On its current trajectory, it will now take 135.6 years to close the gender gap worldwide.
– The gender gap in Political Empowerment remains the largest of the four gaps tracked, with only 22% closed to date, having further widened since the 2020 edition of the report by 2.4 percentage points. Across the 156 countries covered by the index, women represent only 26.1% of some 35,500 Parliament seats and 22.6% of over 3,400 Ministers worldwide. In 81 countries, there has never been a woman head of State as of January 15, 2021. At the current rate of progress, the World Economic Forum estimates that it will take 145.5 years to attain gender parity in politics.
– The gender gap in Economic Participation and Opportunity remains the second-largest of the four key gaps tracked by the index. According to this year’s index results, 58% of this gap has been closed so far. The gap has seen marginal improvement since the 2020 edition of the report, and as a result, we estimate that it will take another 267.6 years to close.
– Gender gaps in Educational Attainment and Health and Survival are nearly closed. In Educational Attainment, 95% of this gender gap has been closed globally, with 37 countries already attaining gender parity. However, the ‘last mile’ of progress is proceeding slowly. The index estimates that it will take another 14.2 years to close this gap on its current trajectory completely.
In Health and Survival, 96% of this gender gap has been closed, registering a marginal decline since last year (not due to COVID-19), and the time to close this gap remains undefined. For both education and health, while progress is higher than economy and politics in the global data, there are important future implications of disruptions due to the pandemic and continued variations in quality across income, geography, race, and ethnicity.
India-Specific Findings:
India had slipped 28 spots to rank 140 out of the 156 countries covered. The pandemic causing a disproportionate impact on women jeopardizes rolling back the little progress made in the last decades-forcing more women to drop off the workforce and leaving them vulnerable to domestic violence.
India’s poor performance on the Global Gender Gap report card hints at a serious wake-up call and learning lessons from the Nordic region for the Government and policy makers.
Within the 156 countries covered, women hold only 26 percent of Parliamentary seats and 22 percent of Ministerial positions. India, in some ways, reflects this widening gap, where the number of Ministers declined from 23.1 percent in 2019 to 9.1 percent in 2021. The number of women in Parliament stands low at 14.4 percent. In India, the gender gap has widened to 62.5 %, down from 66.8% the previous year.
It is mainly due to women’s inadequate representation in politics, technical and leadership roles, a decrease in women’s labor force participation rate, poor healthcare, lagging female to male literacy ratio, and income inequality.
The gap is the widest on the political empowerment dimension, with economic participation and opportunity being next in line. However, the gap on educational attainment and health and survival has been practically bridged.
India is the third-worst performer among South Asian countries, with Pakistan and Afghanistan trailing and Bangladesh being at the top. The report states that the country fared the worst in political empowerment, regressing from 23.9% to 9.1%.
Its ranking on the health and survival dimension is among the five worst performers. The economic participation and opportunity gap saw a decline of 3% compared to 2020, while India’s educational attainment front is in the 114th position.
India has deteriorated to 51st place from 18th place in 2020 on political empowerment. Still, it has slipped to 155th position from 150th position in 2020 on health and survival, 151st place in economic participation and opportunity from 149th place, and 114th place for educational attainment from 112th.
In 2020 reports, among the 153 countries studied, India is the only country where the economic gender gap of 64.6% is larger than the political gender gap of 58.9%. In 2021 report, among the 156 countries, the economic gender gap of India is 67.4%, 3.8% gender gap in education, 6.3% gap in health and survival, and 72.4% gender gap in political empowerment. In health and survival, the gender gap of the sex ratio at birth is above 9.1%, and healthy life expectancy is almost the same.
Discrimination against women has also been reflected in Health and Survival subindex statistics. With 93.7% of this gap closed to date, India ranks among the bottom five countries in this subindex. The wide sex ratio at birth gaps is due to the high incidence of gender-based sex-selective practices. Besides, more than one in four women has faced intimate violence in her lifetime.The gender gap in the literacy rate is above 20.1%.
Yet, gender gaps persist in literacy : one-third of women are illiterate (34.2%) than 17.6% of men. In political empowerment, globally, women in Parliament is at 128th position and gender gap of 83.2%, and 90% gap in a Ministerial position. The gap in wages equality for similar work is above 51.8%. On health and survival, four large countries Pakistan, India, Vietnam, and China, fare poorly, with millions of women there not getting the same access to health as men.
The pandemic has only slowed down in its tracks the progress India was making towards achieving gender parity. The country urgently needs to focus on “health and survival,” which points towards a skewed sex ratio because of the high incidence of gender-based sex-selective practices and women’s economic participation. Women’s labour force participation rate and the share of women in technical roles declined in 2020, reducing the estimated earned income of women, one-fifth of men.
Learning from the Nordic region, noteworthy participation of women in politics, institutions, and public life is the catalyst for transformational change. Women need to be equal participants in the labour force to pioneer the societal changes the world needs in this integral period of transition.
Every effort must be directed towards achieving gender parallelism by facilitating women in leadership and decision-making positions. Social protection programmes should be gender-responsive and account for the differential needs of women and girls. Research and scientific literature also provide unequivocal evidence that countries led by women are dealing with the pandemic more effectively than many others.
Gendered inequality, thereby, is a global concern. India should focus on targeted policies and earmarked public and private investments in care and equalized access. Women are not ready to wait for another century for equality. It’s time India accelerates its efforts and fight for an inclusive, equal, global recovery.
India will not fully develop unless both women and men are equally supported to reach their full potential. There are risks, violations, and vulnerabilities women face just because they are women. Most of these risks are directly linked to women’s economic, political, social, and cultural disadvantages in their daily lives. It becomes acute during crises and disasters.
With the prevalence of gender discrimination, and social norms and practices, women become exposed to the possibility of child marriage, teenage pregnancy, child domestic work, poor education and health, sexual abuse, exploitation, and violence. Many of these manifestations will not change unless women are valued more.
[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]2021 WEF Global Gender Gap report, which confirmed its 2016 finding of a decline in worldwide progress towards gender parity.
Over 2.8 billion women are legally restricted from having the same choice of jobs as men. As many as 104 countries still have laws preventing women from working in specific jobs, 59 countries have no laws on sexual harassment in the workplace, and it is astonishing that a handful of countries still allow husbands to legally stop their wives from working.
Globally, women’s participation in the labour force is estimated at 63% (as against 94% of men who participate), but India’s is at a dismal 25% or so currently. Most women are in informal and vulnerable employment—domestic help, agriculture, etc—and are always paid less than men.
Recent reports from Assam suggest that women workers in plantations are paid much less than men and never promoted to supervisory roles. The gender wage gap is about 24% globally, and women have lost far more jobs than men during lockdowns.
The problem of gender disparity is compounded by hurdles put up by governments, society and businesses: unequal access to social security schemes, banking services, education, digital services and so on, even as a glass ceiling has kept leadership roles out of women’s reach.
Yes, many governments and businesses had been working on parity before the pandemic struck. But the global gender gap, defined by differences reflected in the social, political, intellectual, cultural and economic attainments or attitudes of men and women, will not narrow in the near future without all major stakeholders working together on a clear agenda—that of economic growth by inclusion.
The WEF report estimates 135 years to close the gap at our current rate of progress based on four pillars: educational attainment, health, economic participation and political empowerment.
India has slipped from rank 112 to 140 in a single year, confirming how hard women were hit by the pandemic. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two Asian countries that fared worse.
Here are a few things we must do:
One, frame policies for equal-opportunity employment. Use technology and artificial intelligence to eliminate biases of gender, caste, etc, and select candidates at all levels on merit. Numerous surveys indicate that women in general have a better chance of landing jobs if their gender is not known to recruiters.
Two, foster a culture of gender sensitivity. Take a review of current policies and move from gender-neutral to gender-sensitive. Encourage and insist on diversity and inclusion at all levels, and promote more women internally to leadership roles. Demolish silos to let women grab potential opportunities in hitherto male-dominant roles. Work-from-home has taught us how efficiently women can manage flex-timings and productivity.
Three, deploy corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds for the education and skilling of women and girls at the bottom of the pyramid. CSR allocations to toilet building, the PM-Cares fund and firms’ own trusts could be re-channelled for this.
Four, get more women into research and development (R&D) roles. A study of over 4,000 companies found that more women in R&D jobs resulted in radical innovation. It appears women score far higher than men in championing change. If you seek growth from affordable products and services for low-income groups, women often have the best ideas.
Five, break barriers to allow progress. Cultural and structural issues must be fixed. Unconscious biases and discrimination are rampant even in highly-esteemed organizations. Establish fair and transparent human resource policies.
Six, get involved in local communities to engage them. As Michael Porter said, it is not possible for businesses to sustain long-term shareholder value without ensuring the welfare of the communities they exist in. It is in the best interest of enterprises to engage with local communities to understand and work towards lowering cultural and other barriers in society. It will also help connect with potential customers, employees and special interest groups driving the gender-equity agenda and achieve better diversity.