Data Wrap: States of Gender Equality

About  State Gender Primers

After extensive research and compilation of data, Ungender and Nikore Associates have prepared state-wise “Gender Primers” for all the states of India. In brief, these primers measure gender disparities in each state through the performance of men and women over the years across key thematic areas like livelihood, education, health, gender budgeting, violence against women, and agency.

The year-wise comparison of women’s performance compared to men in each indicator helps determine the success of the schemes undertaken by the government of each state. A brief analysis has been added for each chart to understand the indicators better. Each primer has a “Best Practices” section highlighting the schemes introduced by the respective State Government, which have been deemed effective in bridging the gender gap. 

Based on the uniqueness of the features mentioned above, it is evident that the gender primers give a comprehensive and holistic overview of the gender divide in India by focusing on individual states, thematic areas and indicators.  This will allow leaders across organizations in different states to self-assess their states regarding gender inclusivity.

Thematic Sections

Livelihood

1. North East Rural Livelihood Project (Sikkim)- Caters to rural livelihoods, especially that of women, unemployed youth and the most disadvantaged
2. Self-Employment Assistance for Women (Himachal Pradesh)- The Self Employment Assistance for women was implemented in 2005. It targets women whose entire family income does not exceed Rs.35,000/- from all sources. Women are granted Rs. 5,000 for establishing any project or venture that yields an annual income not more than Rs. 35,000 per annum.​

Education

• Kanyashree Prakalpa (West Bengal)- seeks to improve the status and wellbeing of girls, specifically those from socio-economically disadvantaged families through Conditional Cash Transfers.

• REACH (Kerala)- Implemented in 2009, it is a flagship program on starting schools for girls with the aim of providing intensive training in life skills, communication skills, attitude, self-esteem, employability skills, amongst several other essential core competencies for self-employment and their sustenance.

Health

• First 1000 Days Scheme (Kerala)- Provides medical assistance to pregnant mothers and lactating mothers and their new-borns​

• Delhi Ladli Scheme (Delhi)- The scheme aims to empower girl children socially and economically by controlling female feticide to improve the sex ratio, end discrimination against the girl child, promote education among girls to reduce school drop-out rates and provide security to girl students for higher education.

Women’s Agency

• Mahila Shakti Kendra Scheme (Karnataka)- This scheme targets women from BPL families, landless agricultural labourers, SC, and ST categories. It helps to inculcate savings habits for economic and social independence.

• Support to Training and Employment programme for Women (STEP) (Meghalaya)- The scheme aims to upgrade the skills of poor and marginalised women in traditional trades, to provide skills that give employability to women and to provide competencies and skills that enable women to become self-employed /entrepreneurs. It is being implemented through the Child Development Project Officer in all the Blocks of the State

Violence Against Women

• SHE Team (Telangana)- The SHE teams keep tab on eve-teasers and stalkers in crowded places. Initially set up in Hyderabad and Cyberabad police Commissionerates, they were expanded to all the Telangana districts on 1 April 2021 following the encouraging results.

• Sakhi- One-Stop Center (Nagaland)- Operating since 2016, provides a 24-hour emergency helpline to extend integrated support to women that fall victim to violence in both public and private spaces. The center also facilitates immediate emergency or non-emergency access to a range of services to fight against any form of abuse that a woman might be facing.

Gender Budgeting

Kerala has been a flagbearer in Gender Budgeting and was the earliest to adopt gender-responsive allocation of funds. The state established a Gender Advisory Board in 2007-08 that helped formulate the Gender Budget Statement (GBS) that year. After 2007-08, the state published a GBS in 2017-18, and has presented one consistently since then. Kerala’s GBS is also the only one that provides some sex-disaggregated data.

State – wise Primers

Click on this link to access the State-wise Gender Primers