Special to the express: Women have nothing left to prove

All of this effort has demonstrated something undeniable. Women are resilient, resourceful and indispensable to the societies they sustain. Yet in the constant effort to demonstrate worth, something more fundamental has often been lost. The quiet power of simply being.

India’s evolving conversation around women-led development reflects an important shift. During India’s G20 presidency, the idea gained prominence and it now forms part of the broader national aspiration of Viksit Bharat 2047. The move from “women’s development” to “women-led development” signals that women are not merely beneficiaries of policy but its architects and drivers.

Yet expectations have not changed at the same pace as policy language. Women are still often expected to perform competence rather than inhabit it.

Ask any woman in leadership, whether in government, business, a village panchayat or a research institution, and she will describe an invisible tax that accompanies authority. It is the tax of credibility. She must be exceptionally competent, yet constantly measured. Warm but not weak. Assertive but not aggressive. Confident but never arrogant.

Leadership often becomes a careful balancing act within systems that were rarely designed with women in mind.

The numbers show that progress is underway. Women’s labour force participation in India has risen from 23.3 per cent in 2017-18 to 41.7 per cent in 2023-24. Women are central to the country’s economic life. Nearly 62.9 per cent of India’s agricultural workforce is made up of women, while close to 10 crore women are part of more than 90 lakh self-help groups that sustain local economies and credit networks.

Yet much of women’s labour remains invisible. Women form the backbone of the informal economy as caregivers, domestic workers, artisans and street vendors. Their work sustains families and communities but is often undervalued and rarely acknowledged.

This is why it must be said clearly. Women do not owe the world a continuous performance of their worth.

Too often, even well-intentioned conversations about empowerment suggest that women must become more in order to be accepted. In reality, empowerment is not about becoming more. It is about the freedom to simply be.

When a woman shows up fully as herself, with conviction as well as doubt, ambition alongside compassion, humour alongside anger, she is not failing to conform. She is embodying authenticity. And authenticity often produces stronger leadership and better decisions.

The empowerment framework developed by Sara Hlupekile Longwe identifies five stages: welfare, access, consciousness, participation and control. One might argue that there is also a sixth stage. Wholeness. A woman who reaches this stage does not rely on external validation to act. She does not perform leadership. She lives it.

None of this diminishes the structural barriers that continue to exist. Women account for only about 14 per cent of members in the Lok Sabha. Representation in the civil services, though improving, still remains short of parity. The share of women officers has risen from around 24 per cent in 2019 to roughly 35 per cent in 2023.

The gender pay gap persists, and the double burden of paid work and unpaid care continues to shape professional lives.

These challenges are not inevitable. They are policy questions that require deliberate solutions. Legal reform, institutional redesign and the dismantling of entrenched biases remain essential.

Progress will also depend on partnership. Gender equality cannot be advanced by women alone. Men must play an active role in reshaping institutions and expectations through measures such as accessible childcare systems, flexible work arrangements and promotion policies that recognise career interruptions without penalising them.

Across large parts of India, however, one encounters a quieter barrier that rarely appears in policy debates. It is not lack of ability. It is the gradual erosion of a woman’s belief in her own sufficiency.

It is the girl who hesitates to raise her hand despite knowing the answer. The professional who apologises before expressing an opinion. The leader who softens every conviction.

These are not personal shortcomings. They are the cumulative effect of generations of social messaging.

A woman does not need to be exceptional in order to be equal. She does not need to justify rest, explain joy or defend ambition.

If the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047 is to become reality, it will depend on women who recognise that they have always belonged.

Indian women are not aspirants to dignity. They are among its original authors.

(The writer is Financial Commissioner Revenue & Disaster Management Department &Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Family
Welfare &Ayush Department, Government of Haryana)