Women’s empowerment — schools and beyond

Source: The post “Women’s empowerment — schools and beyond” has been created based on “Women’s empowerment — schools and beyond” published in “Business Line” on 05th September 2026.

UPSC Syllabus: GS-2- Governance

Context: The NFHS-6 (2023-24) Fact Sheets show that India has made significant progress in women’s education and empowerment, while substantial inter-State and gender disparities continue to exist. Women’s empowerment includes access to quality education, economic opportunities, decision-making, livelihoods, healthcare, and effective women’s collectives.

Progress in Women’s Empowerment

1. Rural livelihood mission collectives have expanded to around 100 million women, creating greater opportunities for credit, livelihoods and collective action.
2. Women’s collectives have improved access to credit, employment, nano-enterprises, livestock resources, farm and non-farm livelihoods, and reproductive and child healthcare.
3. Measures such as cash transfers, clean water, sanitation and free travel in some States have also improved women’s lives and strengthened their participation in development.
4. Women’s collectives have contributed to greater participation of adolescent girls in secondary education and improved access to livelihood opportunities.

Inter-State Differences in Girls’ Education

1. The proportion of females aged six years and above who had ever attended school increased to 73.7 per cent in 2023-24, indicating considerable progress.
2. Kerala performs particularly well, with 96.6 per cent of females aged six years and above having ever attended school.
3. However, Bihar and Rajasthan continue to face historical disadvantages, with only around 64 per cent of females having ever attended school.
4. Telangana, despite having a relatively high per capita income, reports only 60.2 per cent, showing that economic prosperity alone does not guarantee gender empowerment.

Gender Gap in Schooling

1. The data on people aged 15-49 years with ten or more years of schooling also reveals significant gender disparities.
2. Kerala performs particularly well, with 86.6 per cent of females having ten or more years of schooling compared with 82.1 per cent of males.
3. Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat have less than 40 per cent of their population in this age group achieving ten or more years of schooling.
4. Telangana has a gender gap of around 13.9 percentage points, indicating the need for stronger efforts to improve girls’ education.
5. Haryana, despite its high per capita income, has a gender gap of around 9.2 percentage points, demonstrating that income does not automatically translate into social development.
6. These variations show that gender inequality can remain a major obstacle to development and well-being even in economically prosperous States.

Women’s Empowerment and Child Development

1. Gender inequalities also have a strong relationship with stunting among children below five years of age.
2. The better-performing States generally have stunting levels below the national average of 29.3 per cent, whereas the aspiring States generally remain above the national average.
3. States such as Haryana, Telangana, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka show relatively concerning stunting outcomes despite their economic performance.
4. Reducing the gender gap in ten years of schooling can contribute to improving child nutrition and reducing stunting over time.
5. Women’s education, empowerment, voice, agency and collective action can produce long-term improvements in household and child well-being.

Role of Women’s Collectives and Local Governance

1. States such as Sikkim, Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have made significant progress in reducing child stunting through collaborative governance involving women’s collectives.
2. The Panchayati Raj Institutions–Self-Help Group (PRI-SHG) framework has helped promote a more gender-sensitive approach to development.
3. Women’s collectives provide women with greater voice, bargaining power, access to resources and opportunities for collective decision-making.
4. Decentralisation and community participation can therefore strengthen the implementation of development programmes at the grassroots level.

Importance of Pre-School Education

1. Less than 50 per cent of children aged 2-4 years are covered by pre-school education, showing that universal early childhood education remains a challenge.
2. The better-performing States generally have higher pre-school coverage, highlighting the importance of early childhood education in holistic child development.
3. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 rightly emphasises pre-school education as an important component of the education system.
4. Expanding quality pre-school education can improve human capital, learning outcomes and long-term development.

Role of Women Care Workers

1. ASHAs, Anganwadi workers and helpers play a critical role in delivering health, nutrition, childcare and other essential services at the grassroots level.
2. However, their low compensation and inadequate support can affect the quality of childcare and other last-mile services.
3. Better compensation and stronger institutional support for these locally resident women workers are necessary to provide quality day-care centres and crèches.
4. Adequate childcare facilities are particularly important for enabling women’s participation in the labour force.
5. Investment in quality childcare can simultaneously improve human capital, female labour force participation, productivity and economic growth.

Challenges

1. Patriarchal attitudes continue to restrict women’s opportunities and decision-making power despite improvements in several indicators.
2. Significant regional and inter-State disparities continue to exist in girls’ education, schooling years, nutrition and access to early childhood services.
3. High per capita income does not always result in commensurate social development, as demonstrated by the performance of some economically prosperous States.
4. Gaps in pre-school coverage and inadequate compensation for frontline women workers continue to weaken the delivery of essential social services.

Way Forward

1. Governments should prioritise universal and quality education for girls, particularly in States and regions with historically low educational attainment.
2. The PRI-SHG model should be strengthened to promote decentralised and community-driven development.
3. Women’s collectives should be provided with better access to credit, markets, skills, technology and diversified livelihoods.
4. Greater investment should be made in early childhood care, nutrition, pre-school education, day-care centres and crèches.
5. ASHAs, Anganwadi workers and other frontline women workers should receive adequate compensation, training and institutional support.
6. Policies should focus not only on women’s welfare but also on strengthening their voice, agency, economic independence and participation in decision-making.

Conclusion: The NFHS-6 findings demonstrate that women’s empowerment is not merely a matter of social justice but a prerequisite for inclusive growth and human development. Women’s education, collective action, economic participation, voice and agency can reduce gender gaps and improve child nutrition, health, productivity and overall well-being. Therefore, India needs a development approach that combines girls’ education, women’s collectives, decentralised governance, quality childcare and economic opportunities to achieve truly inclusive and sustainable development.

Question: Women’s education, empowerment, voice, agency and collective action are essential for achieving inclusive development in India. Discuss in the light of the NFHS-6 findings.

Source: Business Line