India is worse than Pakistan on gender equality

[S_O_C_O_M]

India is worse than Pakistan on gender equality​

Aradhana Sharma, TNN, Nov 5, 2010, 12.38am IST



NEW DELHI: Believe it or not when it comes to gender inequities India fares worse than Pakistan. In fact, the country fares lower than all other countries in South Asia save Afghanistan. These are the findings of the 2010 Human Development Report released by the United Nations Development Programme on Thursday as per its Gender Inequality Index.

So while Pakistan may be in the news for its treatment of women and might have become a hot bed for international women's activism, it certainly seems to know how to take care of its mothers better. On maternal mortality, India -- with its abysmal record -- trails Pakistan.

Reproductive health is the largest contributor to the inequality index. The other indicators, based on which it is calculated, include women's participation in the labour force, their level of empowerment based on educational attainment and parliamentary representation.

For maternal mortality, the figure for Pakistan is 320 deaths per 100,000 live births. In India, the corresponding figure stands at 450. The country also falters on adolescent fertility rate, another indicator of reproductive health.

As per this data, in India the adolescent fertility rate is 68 births per 1,000 live births as compared to 45 births per 1,000 live births in Pakistan. The figures illustrate that Pakistan have fewer younger mothers.

India, however, does better in female participation in the labour force, with the figure being 36% for the nation as opposed to 23% for Pakistan.

However, the country has been really found wanting on the health front.

India ranks 122 among 138 countries for which the gender inequality measure has been calculated. Pakistan is at 116, and Bangladesh is a notch higher at 112.

The other area, where India needs to do better is at the level of Parliamentary participation. India, the reports states, stands out as an exception where 30% local government seats are reserved for women. However, participation at this level has not been incorporated in the report. If India wants to fare better on this front, then Congress President Sonia Gandhi will have to keep her promise of ensuring reservation for women in Parliament and the legislative assemblies.

After all, most countries where women have found more places in Parliament are those where affirmative action has been put in place like Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and even Rwanda.

What is disconcerting is that the indicators are not moving despite the government being well aware of the problems and even after adopting corrective measures as in the case of maternal mortality and improving *** ratios.

On the education front, at secondary and higher level, too, India needs to move fast to remove the disparity. While 50% men are covered at this level, for women, this figure stands at a mere 27%. The measured indicators are not the only concern. Involvement and efforts of women in a number of areas go unaccounted due to lack of data. The inclusion of such factors can make the picture even bleaker. Time use, access to assets and domestic violence are just some of the aspects that are missing.

India is worse than Pakistan on gender equality - The Times of India

 

[flyinfishjoe]

Great for Pakistan.

Although Socom's motivation for posting this is obvious.

 

[U-571]

nice socom your threads reveal the incredible india

 

[JonAsad]

Great for Pakistan.

Although Socom's motivation for posting this is obvious.

yup, his motivation is obvious,
now tell me how do you feel about the news?

 

[PakSher]

India is incredible, Ohhhh I am shaking and so are the Indian women.

 

[DesiGuy]

This is TOI. don't believe them.

 

[Desert Fox]

@ SOCOM, i have to hand it to ya, you sure know how to break the indian wet dream. @ Topic, what can you expect, in rural india they still bury little girls alive and many indian women are killed after their spouses marry them and take the dowry.

 

[abdullahk]

large country more problems that it folks

 

[PakSher]

This is TOI. don't believe them.

TOI is one of the main papers in India, please do not mislead us. Thanks

 

[Desert Fox]

TOI is one of the main papers in India, please do not mislead us. Thanks

he was being sarcastic.

 

[deckingraj]

^^^^^^^^^^^

Guys, what are we talking here....India is 122 and Pak is 116 among 138 countries...Do you honestly see we can point fingers at each other???? India is big and her problems are even bigger but what about Pak???.See it is a shame for all of us...So stop feeling good because Pak is better than India but think that both countries are in the bottom list with BD closely following...

 

[StingRoy]

It is like kettle calling the pot black or the pot calling the kettle black... pick one.

The article points out the areas where improvements need to be made... especially in the lower sections of the society... although I don't see how this article's finding pertains to the middle class.

 

[Kyusuibu Honbu]

India behind Pakistan on human development indices: UN report​

NEW DELHI: India lags behind its neighbours, Pakistan and Bangladesh, on human development indices like life expectancy at birth and mean or average years of schooling, a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report released Thursday said.

Titled "Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Development", the report had a global launch and was released at the UN in New York by UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon.

While India is ranked 119 on the Human Development Index (HDI) among 169 countries -- above Pakistan and Bangladesh which are ranked 125 and 129, respectively -- it lags behind the two on certain development indices.

According to the report, life expectancy at birth in India is 64.4 years, while in Pakistan it is 67.2 years. In Bangladesh, life expectancy is 66.9 years.

Similarly, mean years of schooling in India is 4.4 years while in Pakistan and Bangladesh it is 4.9 and 4.8 years respectively.

Sri Lanka, which is ranked above India on HDI at 91, also fares better than India on the two indices. Its life expectancy at birth is 74.4 years and mean years of schooling is 8.2 years.

On some positive note, in terms of growth of income, India is considered one of the top 10 countries. China is on the top position in this index.

Finance Ministry's chief economic advisor Kaushik Basu, who was present at the India launch of the report, said: "India has a lot of catching up to do. There is scope to do so much better."

India behind Pakistan on human development indices: UN report - The Economic Times


Interesting to note that India and Pakistan have improved rankings compared to their performance 2007,those being 134 for India and 141 for Pakistan.

However,its important to lay an emphasis on HDI score,rather than ranking.

 

[Kinetic]

yup, his motivation is obvious,
now tell me how do you feel about the news?

India is incredible, Ohhhh I am shaking and so are the Indian women.

@ SOCOM, i have to hand it to ya, you sure know how to break the indian wet dream.

bahatt khush ho gaya.... Yes the reason for such thread is obvious, it feels great to you to compare with India and post a new thread for every little ways where you come better, even when over all you are in worse condition.

You become so happy if Pakistan ranks few places higher in some indices but the truth is condition in over all subcontinent is not good, but you don't bother!!!!

@ Topic, what can you expect, in rural india they still bury little girls alive and many indian women are killed after their spouses marry them and take the dowry.

and you are enjoying this but it happens in Pakistan as well.

 

[Jade]

It is no uses comparing India with Pakistan. Gender inequalities can have dire consequences...it is important that we make sincere efforts to remove this inequality. Anyway, neither is Pakistan great in this area...ranked 116 out of 138 is a point to retrospect