<p>As India charts its path to becoming a $5 trillion economy and aspires to achieve the status of a developed country by 2047, it continues to face a critical and often underestimated challenge: the underrepresentation of women in political decision-making. The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2025 places India at a dismal 127th out of 146 countries on the parameter of political empowerment of women. Despite advancements in female education and declining fertility rates – hallmarks of social progress – women continue to remain significantly marginalised from the political structures that shape India’s economic destiny.</p>.<p>Political participation is not merely a democratic ideal. It is a foundational component of effective economic policy-making. When women are excluded from legislatures, cabinets, and economic institutions, national priorities fail to reflect the lived experiences and economic realities of half the population. This leads to inefficient allocation of public resources and missed opportunities for inclusive development. In India, where women constitute nearly 49 per cent of the population, this exclusion is not only a democratic deficiency; it is an economic bottleneck.</p>.<p>Currently, women hold only around 15 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha and just 11 per cent of ministerial positions. These figures are significantly below the global average and lag behind other developing countries, including India’s South Asian neighbours. India’s performance appears alarmingly insufficient in comparison with countries such as Bangladesh and Nepal.</p>.<p>This underrepresentation carries measurable economic consequences. According to a report by the McKinsey Global Institute, India could potentially add $770 billion to its GDP simply by advancing gender equality across sectors, including political leadership. Countries with higher female political participation routinely spend more on health, education, and welfare, sectors crucial for long-term economic growth. Yet, in India, government spending on health remains below 2.5 per cent of GDP and on education around 2.9 per cent.</p>.<p>Political exclusion translates into fiscal neglect. India began gender budgeting in 2005 to track how budgetary allocations address women’s needs. But its influence remains limited. For the 2024-25 fiscal year, gender-responsive budgeting accounted for only 5.2 per cent of the Union Budget. Moreover, most of this allocation is directed towards a handful of welfare schemes rather than being mainstreamed across infrastructure, agriculture, or digital development, sectors where gendered impacts are substantial but often invisible.</p>.<p><strong>Pending reform</strong></p>.<p>Interestingly, where structural interventions have been made, results have been promising. The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments, which mandated 33 per cent reservation for women in local self-governments, have created over a million women leaders at the panchayat level. In Rajasthan, Bihar, and Odisha, where reservations for women in panchayats have been increased to 50 per cent, studies show that elected women leaders prioritise investments in sanitation, water, and schools. These findings, supported by empirical research from Nobel laureate Esther Duflo, demonstrate that when women participate in governance, economic priorities shift towards long-term, community-based development.</p>.<p>However, these gains have not percolated to higher tiers of governance. The Women’s Reservation Bill, passed in 2023 to reserve 33 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures for women, has been mired in delays tied to the next census and delimitation exercise. The lack of urgency around its implementation undermines its transformative potential and reflects the systemic inertia that prevents women from accessing political power at scale.</p>.<p>The regional variation further underscores the problem. States like Kerala, which have higher female literacy rates and better health outcomes, exhibit relatively higher female political participation and more inclusive governance. In contrast, states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, despite being economically significant, continue to exhibit very low female representation in their legislatures. This disparity is not merely statistical; it translates into uneven policy emphasis on gender-equitable growth across India.</p>.<p>Globally, India’s comparative lag in political gender equality is striking. Rwanda leads the world with women holding over 60 per cent of seats in its lower house. Even countries with far fewer economic resources, such as Mozambique and Bolivia, have higher proportions of women in parliament. These examples illustrate that economic development alone does not guarantee gender-inclusive governance. It requires deliberate institutional mechanisms, political will, and a reconfiguration of power structures.</p>.<p>For India to meet its economic ambitions, closing the gender gap in politics must be treated as a core economic reform, not a peripheral social issue. Political inclusion facilitates better governance, improved public service delivery, and more responsive economic policy. It also enables better representation of women’s interests in formal labour markets, which remain heavily skewed. Addressing this requires not just economic incentives but also political leadership that is attuned to the gendered barriers that women face.</p>.<p><em>(The writer is an associate professor, Department of Economics, Christ Deemed to be University)</em></p>
<p>As India charts its path to becoming a $5 trillion economy and aspires to achieve the status of a developed country by 2047, it continues to face a critical and often underestimated challenge: the underrepresentation of women in political decision-making. The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2025 places India at a dismal 127th out of 146 countries on the parameter of political empowerment of women. Despite advancements in female education and declining fertility rates – hallmarks of social progress – women continue to remain significantly marginalised from the political structures that shape India’s economic destiny.</p>.<p>Political participation is not merely a democratic ideal. It is a foundational component of effective economic policy-making. When women are excluded from legislatures, cabinets, and economic institutions, national priorities fail to reflect the lived experiences and economic realities of half the population. This leads to inefficient allocation of public resources and missed opportunities for inclusive development. In India, where women constitute nearly 49 per cent of the population, this exclusion is not only a democratic deficiency; it is an economic bottleneck.</p>.<p>Currently, women hold only around 15 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha and just 11 per cent of ministerial positions. These figures are significantly below the global average and lag behind other developing countries, including India’s South Asian neighbours. India’s performance appears alarmingly insufficient in comparison with countries such as Bangladesh and Nepal.</p>.<p>This underrepresentation carries measurable economic consequences. According to a report by the McKinsey Global Institute, India could potentially add $770 billion to its GDP simply by advancing gender equality across sectors, including political leadership. Countries with higher female political participation routinely spend more on health, education, and welfare, sectors crucial for long-term economic growth. Yet, in India, government spending on health remains below 2.5 per cent of GDP and on education around 2.9 per cent.</p>.<p>Political exclusion translates into fiscal neglect. India began gender budgeting in 2005 to track how budgetary allocations address women’s needs. But its influence remains limited. For the 2024-25 fiscal year, gender-responsive budgeting accounted for only 5.2 per cent of the Union Budget. Moreover, most of this allocation is directed towards a handful of welfare schemes rather than being mainstreamed across infrastructure, agriculture, or digital development, sectors where gendered impacts are substantial but often invisible.</p>.<p><strong>Pending reform</strong></p>.<p>Interestingly, where structural interventions have been made, results have been promising. The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments, which mandated 33 per cent reservation for women in local self-governments, have created over a million women leaders at the panchayat level. In Rajasthan, Bihar, and Odisha, where reservations for women in panchayats have been increased to 50 per cent, studies show that elected women leaders prioritise investments in sanitation, water, and schools. These findings, supported by empirical research from Nobel laureate Esther Duflo, demonstrate that when women participate in governance, economic priorities shift towards long-term, community-based development.</p>.<p>However, these gains have not percolated to higher tiers of governance. The Women’s Reservation Bill, passed in 2023 to reserve 33 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures for women, has been mired in delays tied to the next census and delimitation exercise. The lack of urgency around its implementation undermines its transformative potential and reflects the systemic inertia that prevents women from accessing political power at scale.</p>.<p>The regional variation further underscores the problem. States like Kerala, which have higher female literacy rates and better health outcomes, exhibit relatively higher female political participation and more inclusive governance. In contrast, states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, despite being economically significant, continue to exhibit very low female representation in their legislatures. This disparity is not merely statistical; it translates into uneven policy emphasis on gender-equitable growth across India.</p>.<p>Globally, India’s comparative lag in political gender equality is striking. Rwanda leads the world with women holding over 60 per cent of seats in its lower house. Even countries with far fewer economic resources, such as Mozambique and Bolivia, have higher proportions of women in parliament. These examples illustrate that economic development alone does not guarantee gender-inclusive governance. It requires deliberate institutional mechanisms, political will, and a reconfiguration of power structures.</p>.<p>For India to meet its economic ambitions, closing the gender gap in politics must be treated as a core economic reform, not a peripheral social issue. Political inclusion facilitates better governance, improved public service delivery, and more responsive economic policy. It also enables better representation of women’s interests in formal labour markets, which remain heavily skewed. Addressing this requires not just economic incentives but also political leadership that is attuned to the gendered barriers that women face.</p>.<p><em>(The writer is an associate professor, Department of Economics, Christ Deemed to be University)</em></p>
