Women Empowerment

Till December 2021, there were only two women chief secretaries in total thirty-six states and union territories of the country. Till date, not a single woman has been able to reach the post of Cabinet Secretary, the country’s most senior administrative officer. Statistics show that more women retire after completing their tenure, yet they are expected to opt for voluntary retirement as compared to men.
Last year, under the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), gender equality in public administration a report was prepared regarding this. It clarified that gender equality is at the core of an inclusive and accountable public administration. The report also indicated that maintaining equal representation of women in bureaucracy and public administration leads to major improvements in government functioning. Not only this, it also makes the services more responsive and accountable to various public interests. This not only increases the quality, but also increases mutual trust between public organizations.
Significantly, the country is in its seventy-fifth year of independence and in this the government’s Amrit Mahotsav phase is going on. After such a long journey of independence, this natural question cannot be avoided that if India has to become a superpower and at the same time bring the concept of New India and self-reliance, then the new bureaucracy and women’s equality should not be marginalised. Can. During a statement in Parliament in March 2020, the government clarified that it is striving to create a workforce that reflects and reflects gender balance. But the truth is that the ground reality is something else about it. This is the era of globalization. In this, the scenario of public service will also have to be given a new look.
For this, reducing the gender disparity in the civil service should be a priority. With the increase in the presence of women in administrative services, such services will not only be strengthened from the point of view of the workforce, but will also be a reflection of sensitivity. All the tasks like creating capacity for development, taking the stream of development to the masses and curbing corruption can be made easier to a great extent by increasing the participation of women. The principle of welfare also says the same It is said that within a democracy everything should be turned towards the public, this is also the highest of good governance. This will also provide an opportunity for gender equality in administrative services.
Investigation shows that for the first time in the year 1951, it was decided to include women in the Indian Administrative Service. In the same year only one woman Anna Rajam was selected for IAS for this service. After traveling a long way of seven decades, in the year 2020, the total number of women in IAS is thirteen percent. Going deeper, according to a recent study, from 1951 to 2020Of the eleven thousand five hundred and sixty nine IAS officers who entered the civil services between 2013-2015, barely one thousand five hundred and twenty seven were women. Although this figure gives wide scope to gender inequality, but there is relief in the fact that the number of women administrative officers starting from the unit is more than one and a half thousand today. Gender disparity is not only in the number of administrative service, but the views regarding the entry of women into this service were also different.
The study also revealed that those who passed the IAS exam When Shri Anna Rajam went for interview she was asked to consider foreign or central services instead of administrative service. After her selection in the administrative service, there was a condition in the appointment letter that her service would be terminated in case of marriage. This restriction suggests that for women to gain a foothold in administrative service was like passing through the middle of male authority. However, later it was amended and the first woman IAS Anna Rajam got married in 1985. Significantly, her husband RBI Governor R.N. Malhotra was Obviously, the path of women in the Indian Administrative Service was not so easy.
The road to becoming an IAS is getting tougher day by day. However, the resources have increased rapidly and access to it has become easier due to internet etc. At present, there are more than one million applicants in the Civil Services Examination and only a few hundred are selected, in which the number of IAS is only between one and a half to two hundred. In this also a large number of men remain. If we look at the figures of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), the Civil Services of the year 2017 Thirty percent of the total applicants in the civil service examination were women. Till January 3, 2022, out of the ninety-two secretaries of the Government of India, only fourteen percent i.e. only thirteen women can be seen. Not only this, till December 2021, only two women were Chief Secretaries in total thirty-six states and union territories of the country. Till date, not a single woman has been able to reach the post of Cabinet Secretary, the country’s most senior administrative officer.
Statistics show that most women take retirement only after completing their tenure, yet compared to men they are expected to take voluntary retirement. Significantly, women are in any service, the responsibility is double. Apart from office work, it is their responsibility to manage the house and play the role properly and at the same time maintain a balance, which is no less challenging. In the year 2004, the Civil Services Committee was set up under the chairmanship of former Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) chairman PC Hota. The report of the committee highlighted the additional burden of domestic responsibilities on women officers. It is another matter that There was not a single woman member in the committee.
In 2008, on the recommendation of the Sixth Pay Commission, the central government extended maternity leave to one hundred and eighty days and child care leave to two years for women employees. To make the country a superpower or to make India great, the development of the citizens has to be kept in priority. For this, administration of development is required and to get the administration of development, a good administrative officer is required. It is not possible to fulfill it only with male officers. Gender inequality increasing the participation of women while reducing it is also ethically appropriate and will also be considered appropriate from the point of view of the new work culture. India is at the top of the ranks of the world even in the matter of corruption.
The access of women as administrative officers is also indicative of social equality along with gender balance and it can be said that it can curb corruption to some extent. Data from the National Informatics Center shows that Karnataka and Telangana are the two state cadres where thirty percent of the officers are women, while And in Jammu and Kashmir, Sikkim, Bihar, Tripura and Jharkhand this figure is less than fifteen percent.