Govt, Gendered – on gender parity in civil services

Source: This post is based on the article “Govt, Gendered”, published in The Times of India on 25^th May 2022.

Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 2, Social Issues

News: Women got the top four spots in the Civil Services Exam 2022. It shows the improvement in women participation in the administration.

Moreover, women candidates recommended for appointment to various elite government services like IAS and IPS have overall risen from 24% to 34% since 2018.

The improvement in gender equality in public administration has been an important metric for a more responsive and accountable government to diverse public interests.

It shows that gender parity among civil servants is within reach.

However, India is still lagging in the equal employment across all levels, sectors and positions in government – especially its highest offices.

What are the challenges in the equal participation of women on the important positions?

First, Although, first woman foreign secretary appointed in 2001 and the first woman finance secretary in 2011. India has never had a woman cabinet secretary.

Second, a 2021UNDP global report on gender equality in public administration reports that women’s share of top leadership in India is only 12% compared to 29% in Singapore, 40% in Australia and 53% in Sweden.

Third, Gender equality becomes more important due to rising deficit between the required number of officers and the vacancies. A parliamentary committee reports the deficits between authorised and actual IAS strength at 57% in J&K and 31% in Jharkhand.

Fourth, mindset of reformers needs to change. Committee on civil service reforms’ 2004 report advocates enabling “women in the higher civil service to play their roles effectively as mothers and wives”. Instead of encouraging women to care for families, a more equal culture of care work in the senior bureaucracy must be encouraged.