The plight of Olympic medal winning women wrestlers is a shame to the nation. These are people who have represented the country at international arena and brought back home, pride. Yet their fight to justice is intolerable. In another instance, Tata Consultancy Services revoked the work from home option after it was introduced three years ago, during the pandemic. As a result of this, several women employees put in their resignation. TCS prioritises gender diversity and was also the one that employed women the most, among IT companies.
Women need to participate more…
India stands at an important fork in its growth agenda. To realise its true potential and to stand tall in the world order, it is necessary that India includes more women to the workforce. Their contribution would be a major game changer. Women working in formal sector have fallen to about 19 per cent in 2021. For a growing economy, this number is a concern, as women almost make 50 per cent of the population. With them holding back, India’s growth ambitions will also take a setback.
Only in the last few decades women have started to come out of their households. Even then, they have had to adjust to a male dominated world. They had to survive through several odds and only recently has the focus on diversity and inclusivity taken centre stage. The glass ceiling is well intact above them and a major reason being the extra burden of home responsibilities. Marriage and children are major pit stops were women fall out of the race. Lack of a proper support system both from the society and the work place is a major reason. The TCS incident highlights that nothing much has changed. The work from home option offered a cushion to balance work and life but returning to office distorts it.
Yet another major issue is safety. The Olympians plight highlight the lack of redressal systems in case of sexual harassment. Even today, several offices lack POSH committees. Rather than fighting the system, it is easier to withdraw.
Takin cue of these, government and organisations need to devise policy and facilitate a conducive environment where women can work and thrive. As more women come to fore, they may enter for the first time to male dominated domains, like drivers, delivery persons,… Even today, several working women lack access to clean restrooms. To help them sustain in work environments, government must develop needed infrastructure.
Apart from all this, there is a bias in recruiting women itself. Organisations cite the necessity to follow several protocols when employing women as an additional burden and restrain from recruiting them. As India transitions to a knowledge-based economy, a large women force which is involved in agricultural activity would be left behind. Concerted efforts need to be taken to reskill the labour and direct them to newer industries.
These changes need to come from the societal level and the government must create systems to enforce it. Unless it is planned and taken up in full force, attracting and retaining women talent in workforce would become difficult.
