Unclaimed dividend

Every year, over ₹1,000 crore remains with companies in the form of dividends not claimed by shareholders. But it is not allowed to go to waste. Under the law, such funds are transferred to an investor protection fund, to be used to educate investors and increase awareness about the benefits and risks of investing in market instruments. Yet, as a nation, we continue to ignore a much larger dividend, one with the potential to transform the economy and the lives of our people — our demographic dividend. India’s working age population is expected to increase by around 200 million in the next two decades. Almost half of them will be women. And a significantly high proportion of these women will be counted only as potential workers — qualified to participate in productive work and thus enhance both their individual and the nation’s prosperity, but unable to actually participate because of societal and other barriers. Only 28.6 per cent of women of working age (15-64 years) are actually in the labour force, compared to 64 per cent in China.

This translates into a staggeringly large economic opportunity lost to the country. According to a study by the McKinsey Global Institute released in November last year, India could boost its GDP by as much as $700 billion (over ₹44 lakh crore) by 2025, by achieving gender parity in the workforce. As much as 70 per cent of this could be achieved simply by raising women’s participation in the workforce by 10 percentage points between now and 2025 in just the top nine States with the highest gender inequality. At the moment, Indian women contribute just 20 per cent to overall GDP, compared to the global average of 37 per cent and China’s 41 per cent. Improving this requires bridging not just economic but social gender gaps, which is easier said than done. A key ingredient in the mix is literacy. The States with the lowest gender gaps — Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, in that order — also have the best metrics for overall as well as female literacy, as well as women and girl child health. The Economic Survey noted that while overall financial inclusion has grown, that “in terms of number of women with bank accounts still remains low.” Skilling and involving more women in sectors such as banking, finance, insurance, real estate and IT, where the current participation rate is just 13.6 per cent is essential.

Such changes cannot be legislated. In fact, even without the Women’s Reservation Bill, India is one of the developing world’s best performers in terms of women in politics, although it ranks a lowly 108 out of 145 countries in the World Economic Forum’s gender gap report. Today, as the world commemorates World Women’s Day, we must reiterate our commitment to gender equality and realign our policies to ensure that India reaps the full potential of its women.

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