A compendium of contemporary essays on in India Edited by: Dr. Shamika Ravi ABOUT BROOKINGS INDIA Established in 2013, Brookings India is an independent Indian research institution working towards improving governance across different areas of public policy in our country. Our single-focused mission is to produce and promote independent and high quality research that contributes to India’s nation-building. Brookings India is registered as a non-profit institution under Section 8 of the Companies Act 2013 (formerly Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956). All our research products and publications are online and available for free to all. Brookings India’s fundamental objective is to contribute meaningfully to the process of designing solutions for India’s policy problems. We aspire to do this in a way which fully reflects the core values of analytical quality and independence of views. www.brookings.in ABOUT DIFFICULT DIALOGUES Difficult Dialogues is an annual forum examining issues of contemporary relevance in South Asia. The theme of the forum changes every year, yet each topic examined is approached from a broad-based perspective — with a belief that social change can only be achieved by initiating dialogue amongst the various actors, and not by discussing issues in isolation. Hosted in Goa, the forum promotes intensive discussions between diverse stakeholders ranging from academics, young talents, celebrities and grassroots activists, to politicians and leaders from the media, business and international organisations. All discussions are moderated so as to be respectful, factually accurate and courageous. The goal of the forum is to establish new paths for Indian policy, by drafting innovative recommendations of perpetuating and promoting dialogues established during the forum. Difficult Dialogues 2018 in partnership with University College London, Goa University, International Center Goa and Brookings India, focused on how Indian gender constructs affect fundamental aspects of daily lives and citizenship. The aim was to share knowledge about gender – its determinants, expressions, diversity, and positive and negative consequences – to start a dialogue on how gender norms can be transformed to improve the lives of everyone. In its first edition in 2016, Difficult Dialogues focused on themes such as global finance, physical infrastructure and human capital, and the role of civil society. In 2017, the forum explored the challenges India faces in creating conditions for good health and healthcare access for all citizens. www.difficultdialogues.com © 2019 Brookings Institution India Center No. 6, Second Floor, Dr. Jose P Rizal Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi – 110021 A compendium of contemporary essays on in India Edited by: Dr. Shamika Ravi PREFACE This collection of essays emerged out of ideas and presentations at the Difficult Dialogues conference on Gender Equality in February 2018, where Brookings India was a knowledge partner. In a short span of time, Difficult Dialogues has evolved as a platform that bridges the gap between policymakers, academics and scholars, and NGOs involved with implementation, by bringing them together to discuss vital issues – health, gender, education — that lie at the heart of India’s development story. The motivation behind this compendium was to extend the conversations and questions sparked by the conference. Many of the presentations at Difficult Dialogues 2018 turned into essays for this volume and Dr. Shamika Ravi, Research Director at Brookings India, took upon the mantle of editing and weaving them together. The compendium seeks to provide a lens to view gender inequality in contemporary India, from political participation to wage parity and economic opportunities, to the interplay of gender and poverty in street situations. Every essay in the compendium is rooted in empirical evidence and peer-reviewed by experts in the field, making this a handy guide for those looking to study both India’s progress and challenges through the prism of gender. This compendium would not be possible without the efforts of several people. We would like to thank all the contributing authors, who brought their scholarship and sharp analysis to this volume. We would also like to thank the peer reviewers, who remain anonymous to preserve the sanctity of the review process, but whose expertise and valuable feedback were instrumental in honing the essays. We would like to extend gratitude to Surina Narula, Seema Solanki and the Difficult Dialogues team, whose collabouration and continued support for this partnership made this compendium possible. We would like to recognise the research, editorial and design assistance provided by Geetika Dang, Prerna Sharma, Zehra Kazmi, Rohan Laik, Aditi Sundan and Karanveer Singh at Brookings India. This publication reflects Brookings India’s absolute commitment to our values of quality, independence, and impact. The analysis and recommendations found in these essays are solely determined by the authors. Brookings India does not take an institutional position on issues. CONTENTS 1. Women in Indian Democracy: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Shamika Ravi: Shamika Ravi is Director of Research at Brookings India and a Senior Fellow of Governance Studies Program, at Brookings India and Brookings Institution Washington D.C. She is also Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India. 2. A Paradigm Shift in Women Turnout and Representation in Indian Elections Sanjay Kumar: Sanjay Kumar is a Professor and currently the Director at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies. His core area of research is Electoral Politics, but using survey method as a research tool, he has studied a wide range of themes, including Indian youth, state of democracy in South Asia, state of Indian farmers, slums of Delhi, and electoral violence. 3. Elected Women Representatives in Panchayati Raj Institutions Shreyasi Jha: Shreyasi Jha is an expert in women’s rights, gender equality and sustainable development. She is also a Gender consultant with the UNICEF in New York. She has extensive experience in conducting evaluation, policy research, and managing programs at the World Bank, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and UN Women. Prerna Sharma: Prerna Sharma is a Research Associate in Development Economics at Brookings India. She is an economic researcher with a special interest in promoting research and results- driven policy design and has an interest in health, gender, innovation and financial inclusion. 4. Unlocking Potential, by Bringing Gender-Based Wage Parity Charu Anand: Charu Anand is a Senior Program Manager in PLAN India. She has been working in the social sector for the last 30 years and has experience on the grants and program management. She is also the Gender focal point for PLAN India. Prakash Gus: Prakash Gus is Senior Manager- Research and Evaluation, at PLAN India. At the organisation, he is involved in developing and implementing PLAN India’s MER policy and ensuring its alignment with regional and global policy frameworks. He is also credited with developing a first of its kind Gender Vulnerability Index. 5. A Qualitative Study Exploring the Gender Gap in Indian Science - Findings From a Feminist Science Media Project Aashima Dogra: Aashima Dogra is a freelance science writer and the co-founder and editor of thelifeofscience.com. The Life of Science is an independent science and feminist media project highlighting the stories of success and struggle of Indian women in science. Aashima studied science communication from the University of Warwick and has been the editor at Brainwave magazine and Mars One. Nandita Jayaraj: Nandita Jayaraj is a freelance science writer and the co-founder and editor of thelifeofscience.com. Nandita Jayaraj studied journalism at Asian College of Journalism and worked for The Hindu newspaper and Brainwave magazine. Mrinal Shah: Mrinal Shah is PhD in Microbiology from National University of Singapore. She joined the thelifeofscience.com in May 2018 as a coordinator of the project. 6. ‘Missing’ Women Leadership in Indian Higher Education: Broken Pipeline or Fields of Power? Manisha Priyam: Manisha Priyam is an academic and researcher and she works on issues of development and politics in India. She is currently an Associate Professor at the Department of Educational Policy, National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA), India’s leading policy advisory body for the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MoHRD), Government of India. 7. Gender in Street Situations: Challenges and Prospects of Street-connected Girl Children and Implications for Policy-Making in India Anita S. McMillan: Anita is a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Evidence-Based Interventions, at the Department of Social Policy and Intervention at Oxford University. She is a social psychologist working in both the UK and low to middle-income countries on the promotion of child mental health within public health, prevention of child abuse and neglect, and the state of children with limited or no parental care, including street and working children, child migrants, and children in institutions, with a focus on family reintegration. Nilisha Vashist: Nilisha Vashist is a Doctoral researcher at the Division of Psychiatry at University College London. She has been trained in social anthropological methods of research at University of Delhi, India with a specialisation in medical anthropology. She has also conducted research in