Gender-based discrimination cases come down

Gender-based disparities have shown a decline in the country in the last decade with the national capital scoring the highest, according to a report by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

There is an overall improvement in the performance on the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) over the decade, both in the all-India score and in the scores achieved by the States and Union Territories, the report titled “Gendering Human Development Indices: Recasting the Gender Development Index and Gender Empowerment Measure for Index” says.

The GEM is calculated on political participation and decision-making power, economic participation and decision-making power and power over economic resources of women.

The GEM score for India, which was 0.416 in 1996, increased to 0.497 in 2006.

As many as 14 States and Union Territories achieved GEM scores of above 0.485 in 2006, while only two had achieved scores higher than this in 1996. The only two States to have achieved a score above 0.485 in 1996 and 2006 are Goa and Kerala.

The National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi had the highest score of 0.564 in 2006, jumping from rank three to occupy the top slot. Nagaland, on the other hand, got the lowest rank, both in 2006 and 1996 with GEM scores of 0.289 and 0.165 respectively.

While 13 States improved their ranks over the decade, 19 lost their respective position during the same period.

The newly formed Jharkhand and Uttarakhand achieved large gains of 0.157 and 0.132 respectively and improved their ranks by six positions each. While Uttar Pradesh and Bihar performed slightly better, the improvement in their GEM was lower in comparison (0.118 and 0.101 respectively). Chhattisgarh improved its score by only 0.058, compared with an improvement of 0.056 by Madhya Pradesh. These States lost four and five ranks respectively.

However, the biggest GEM rank losers are Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Chandigarh and Lakshadweep.

The Human Development Index (HDI), the Gender Development Index (GDI) and GEM scores attained by the States and Union Territories and changes in the scores and ranks over time reflect performance on these indices and the extent to which progress has been made in translating its growth into a better quality of life.

Gaps between the HDI and GDI reflect the existence of gender disparities translating development into equitable outcomes.

The HDI score for India was 0.0530 in 1996 and 0.605 in 2006. The score for 2006 was highest for Chandigarh at 0.784 and lowest for Bihar at 0.507. The GDI score for India was 0.514 in 1996 and 0.509 in 2006. The score was highest for 2006 for Chandigarh at 0.763 and lowest for Bihar at 0.479. The GDI and HDI are calculated on the basis of health, literacy and standard of life.