UPSC Essentials | Mains answer practice — GS 2 : Question on India’s performance in Global Gender Gap Index 2024 (Week 57)

QUESTION 2

Discuss the variables that influence India’s performance and offer ways to improve its gender parity ranking. How will reducing gender disparity benefit India’s socioeconomic development?

General points on the structure of the answers

Introduction

— The introduction of the answer is essential and should be restricted to 3-5 lines. Remember, a one-liner is not a standard introduction.

— It may consist of basic information by giving some definitions from the trusted source and authentic facts.

Body

— It is the central part of the answer and one should understand the demand of the question to provide rich content.

— The answer must be preferably written as a mix of points and short paragraphs rather than using long paragraphs or just points.

— Using facts from authentic government sources makes your answer more comprehensive. Analysis is important based on the demand of the question, but do not over analyse.

— Underlining keywords gives you an edge over other candidates and enhances presentation of the answer.

— Using flowcharts/tree-diagram in the answers saves much time and boosts your score. However, it should be used logically and only where it is required.

Way forward/ conclusion

— The ending of the answer should be on a positive note and it should have a forward-looking approach. However, if you feel that an important problem must be highlighted, you may add it in your conclusion. Try not to repeat any point from body or introduction.

— You may use the findings of reports or surveys conducted at national and international levels, quotes etc. in your answers.

Self Evaluation

— It is the most important part of our Mains answer writing practice. UPSC Essentials will provide some guiding points or ideas as a thought process that will help you to evaluate your answers.

THOUGHT PROCESS

You may enrich your answers by some of the following points

QUESTION 1: Discuss how developing countries contribute to global economic progress. What are the major problems these countries confront in attaining sustainable development and effectively contributing to the global economy?

Body:

— The term “Global South” conjured ideas of countries with low growth, financial instability, and poor governance. These countries have now emerged as a bridge to the future of the global economy.

— The most recent World Bank/IMF predictions show that GDP will remain steady at roughly 3%, and most evidence leads to central banks leaving tight monetary policy and achieving a soft landing.

— Without strong financial markets, the availability of sustainable financing will be a binding limitation on growth in the Global South—and, by extension, global growth—because the Global South attracts capital at prohibitively high rates and for short periods.

— Decades of supporting geopolitics, demographics, globalisation, and technology developments have culminated in an era of rapid growth. It has altered during the last few years because:

(i) Individual countries’ safety nets failed to keep up with the displacement of livelihoods, undermining social cohesiveness and support for the multilateral system.

(ii) The pandemic disturbed the tailwinds of global expansion, including increasing markets, trade, supply networks, and financial globalisation.

(iii) The conflict in Ukraine, deteriorating geopolitics, and the development of strategic rivalry all threaten to entrench policy-driven fragmentation.

Major issues that developing countries face in achieving sustainable development

— Climate change, the cost of living problem, out-of-reach SDG targets, deteriorating productivity, a lack of liquidity financing, and a broken debt architecture all have a negative influence on growth in the Global South.

— There are several issues to address, including the role of multilateral institutions and the need to reform their governance framework, with a focus on three specific areas: climate financing, liquidity provisions for the Global South, and global architecture for the development of digital public architecture.

Contribution to global economy

— Countries with effective DPIs could provide emergency fiscal transfers to hundreds of millions of people; their health systems could support large-scale vaccine deployment; their education systems could provide learning platforms; and their digital commerce platforms, augmented by digital payment systems, could mitigate the worst effects of the lockdowns.

— Advances in AI have the potential to significantly boost global growth and inclusivity. To reap gains and secure data and cyber security across multiple usages, the DPI architecture requires a central point and a more solid common structure.

— A worldwide effort to form a coalition of willing parties to build a repository of best practices and a venue for discussing technological advances would avoid system-wide incompatibilities.

Conclusion:

— A recent Bretton Woods Committee Report suggests a complementary strategy for focusing more firmly on capital markets. According to research, 1% of publicly traded corporations account for 40% of total greenhouse gas emissions.

— This solution would include three elements:

(i) Mandatory disclosure rules were imposed globally for publicly traded firms and major state-owned enterprises.

(ii) A digital public infrastructure that converts data disclosed by businesses into machine-readable format.

(iii) New rating organisations will assess corporations on their sustainability performance.

— Several international committees, notably the G20 Eminent Persons Group on Global Financial Architecture and the recently convened UN Secretary General’s High-Level Advisory Panel, have noted that the global financial system is failing to provide emerging markets with sufficient and timely finance.

(Source: Developing countries can spur global growth but they need support by Amitabh Kant and Siddharth Tiwari)

Points to Ponder

Difference between developing and developed countries

What is digital public architecture (DPI)?

Related Previous Year Question

“The broader aims and objectives of WTO are to manage and promote international trade in the era of globalisation. But the Doha round of negotiations seem doomed due to differences between the developed and the developing countries.” Discuss in the Indian perspective. (2016)

QUESTION 2: Discuss the variables that influence India’s performance and offer ways to improve its gender parity ranking. How will reducing gender disparity benefit India’s socioeconomic development?

Introduction:

— The 2024 edition of the Global Gender Gap Index places India at 129 out of the 146 countries.

— The Global Gender Gap Index was first introduced in 2006 and it is a précis measure.

— It is a combination of four different sub-indices —

(i) Economic participation and opportunity;

(ii) Educational attainment;

(iii) Health and survival and

(iv) Political empowerment

— The index lies between 0 and 1, with 1 denoting complete parity.

Body:

India’s performance

— It is vital to emphasise that this index focuses on gender disparities, or women’s relative positions to males (gender equality), rather than their absolute positions. The objective is to monitor gender inequalities over time and between countries.

— The Centre for Economic Data and Analysis (CEDA) has created an interactive tracker that allows users to observe how India’s position has changed over time since 2006, as well as how it compares to other countries in each of the sub-indices.

— The 2024 report states that India’s “Health and Survival Score” is 0.951, indicating that 95.1% of the male-female difference has been closed. Similarly, the educational attainment gap has been closed by 96.4%.

— India ranks 112th in education and 142nd in health among 146 countries.

— The Economic Participation sub index is based on gender differences in labour force participation, managerial positions, wage disparities, and wage parity (equal pay for equal effort). India ranks 142nd out of 146 countries, with a score of 39.8%.

— India ranks 65th in the world in terms of political engagement, despite having closed only 25.1% of the gap. This reflects the reality that, while the rest of the world has achieved tremendous progress towards gender equality in the economic, educational, and health sectors, global development on gender equality in political involvement remains slow.

— According to the survey, India and its immediate neighbours—South Asia as a region rank seventh out of the eight regions in the world, above the Middle East and North Africa.

Conclusion:

— While there have been improvements in some areas for Indian women, this research highlights the persistence of gender discrepancies in selected metrics.

— According to an OECD estimate, gender-based discrimination in social institutions might cost the global economy up to $12 trillion, while reducing gender discrimination can boost GDP growth.

(Source: Cost of inequality: What India’s 129 rank in Global Gender Gap Index means by Ashwini Deshpande)

Points to Ponder

OECD

Centre for Economic Data and Analysis

Which country topped the Global Gender Gap Index?

Which organisation publishes the Gender Gap Index Report?

Related Previous Year Questions

Discuss the contribution of civil society groups for women’s effective and meaningful participation and representation in state legislatures in India. (2023)

The incidence and intensity of poverty are more important in determining poverty based on income alone”. In this context analyse the latest United Nations Multidimensional Poverty Index Report. (2020)

Previous Mains Answer Practice

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 55)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 56)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 56)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 55)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 57)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 56)

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