Towards gender justice

The report ‘The glass ceiling may be showing cracks, but is still very much there, says ILO’ (January 14) mentions that in India, women are clustered in managerial jobs in human resources, public relations, communications, administration and so on. Despite their increasing participation in the labour force and their higher levels of education, women’s share of management actually fell in 23 countries. Even though there is a positive relationship between female leadership and performance, only 5 per cent women are in the top rungs of the hierarchical ladder. Only when there is gender justice can women increase their participation in top positions in other areas.

TV Jayaprakash

Palakkad, Kerala

Hide and seek

With reference to your editorial, ‘Green shoots? Not yet’ (January 14), the IIP that has been playing hide and seek for a while now, was shown up. So has been the case with inflation. Through six long years both growth and inflation played truant with many nations. We are also discovering that low commodity prices and low inflation alone are no longer enough for economic revival. There must be newer theories of economics operating beyond our knowledge. The continued plunge of crude prices gives us no clue whether it will signal global economic recovery or a further downfall.

The RBI’s conservatism on key rates was no different when WPI was at 18 per cent to the current sub 3 per cent. Big ticket reforms that were on the menu of UPA-II are still in the BJP kitchen. Perhaps its attentions are more on bolstering the political environment than the economic one. There is a strong case for easing the rates towards the larger goal of boosting the manufacturing sector. Low commodity prices are deceptive for growth. Crude at $30 may enable one to take the car out for a long drive and then come home to find oneself jobless.

R Narayanan

Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh

India Inc and others expected a turnaround within months of the new government taking office and hence there is disappointment at the state of the economy. We should appreciate that it is not so easy to turn around a languishing economy. The steps taken by the government thus far seem to be in the right direction and we will see results in another 8-12 months. Global factors, the stress levels of PSBs, inflation and other factors also impacted growth.

With falling commodity prices and decline in inflation acting in favour, things should change soon. We should be patient and at the same time keep nudging the government.

Sridhar Narasimhan

Email

The editorial underscores the sheen and shadow of the Indian economy delineated by the Index of Industrial Production figures. Since growth in India is inseparable from job creation, the edit rightly points to the need for providing stimulus to MSMEs. While growth in the service sector creates jobs for the well-educated, MSMEs open the doors for the less skilled who contribute to the bulk of the unemployed.

YG Chouksey

Pune

Prioritise health

Health is wealth. But the Centre seems to think otherwise, or else it would not have announced a 20 per cent cut in the health budget. The decrease in funding lends a hollow ring to the BJP’s promise of ensuring universal healthcare.

Government spending on healthcare is only1.04 per cent of GDP. Since the BJP’s assumption of power there is a whopping increase in the price of medicines for life-threatening diseases.

India is so impoverished that access to healthcare for all is simply not possible without government intervention and funding. A lot more money has to be allocated over the coming decades to justify the country’s priority of improving the health of all citizens, irrespective of economic status.

A national debate about the need for a substantial increase in government spending taking into account the changing population profile and socio-economic conditions has become imperative to force need-based allocation for health.

G David Milton

Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu

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