GD Topic: Women Empowerment and Gender Justice in India

Unlike several other debatable GD topics, this one has little to debate, but a lot to discuss. It is well- known how women’s empowerment and gender justice have to be incorporated in to the society in order to ensure the growth and development of the country. By Aritro Dasgupta

This article was first published on October 10, 2019.

After all, women make up nearly half the population of any country, so their exclusion from the top table, only ends up accentuating further inequality. India has achieved a lot of the goals to ensure gender justice. Much progress has been made. Yet, a lot still remains to be done. Crimes against women for instance need to be curbed.

First of all, we need to understand, what exactly do these two terms stand for. Women empowerment does not necessarily mean keeping reservations for the gender. Rather it is about equality, even if that occasionally does require some quotas. Beyond the tangible, equality is also something borne on the mind. Men and women as well need to buy in to the philosophy of equality, so that any signs of toxic patriarchy may be nipped at the bud. Women are quite often the co-conspirators in keeping down the voices of their fellow females, so this requires careful handling, using a variety of educational and training tools.

Let us take a look at both the highs and the lows in this fight for gender justice and women empowerment in India. This will help you in preparing for Women Empowerment Group Discussion. topic.

GD Topic: Women Empowerment - Gains

Here, let us examine the real gains made by women in India:

1. India was one of the first countries in the world to have a woman Head of Government in Indira Gandhi. Four decades on, several powerful female leaders have been A- listers in the world of politics, heading states, cabinet ministries or political parties. The present Finance Minister is a woman, as is the Chief Minister of West Bengal.
2. In the world of sports, several Indian women have excelled. The likes of P.T. Usha, Mary Kom, P.V. Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Sania Mirza, Sakshi Malik, Jhulan Goswami, Tania Sachdev, Deepa Karmakar, and many more have made the country proud by winning laurels abroad.
3. Not only within the national boundaries, but Indian women have taken strides abroad winning several top honors. The list includes the likes of Priyanka Chopra, Kalpana Chawla, Sushmita Sen, Rupa Devi, Bhanu Athaiyya, Arunima Sinha and many more.
4. In business too, many have excelled. Indira Nooyi and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw are the obvious names that come to mind. The banking sector especially has been awash with several of them being led by women.
5. The Triple Talaq was banned this year, which should end up liberating millions of women from an archaic law.

GD Topic: Women Empowerment - Stagnations

In spite of all the gains listed above, there have been several reverses as well, with the status of women stagnating. Following are a few of those:

1. India fared abysmally in the Gender Gap Index for 2018, as released by the WEF. The Rank was 108, which is well below several other nations one would normally expect to be below India.
2. Domestic violence, marital rape, and career compromises continue to take place at the household level.
3. The level of representation at several levels in abysmally low. Some political parties such as the BJD and the TMC have tried to make amends, but more is needed from all.
4. India has also tragically earned a reputation for rapes. This has led to the embassies of several countries dissuading female travelers from venturing too deep for travel in India.
5. Dowry remains a pressing concern across marriage proposals. Dowry deaths too have sporadically been reported.

So, we can clearly notice that there are rousing points on both sides of the debate. Students need to be able to argue with the right facts and figures.

A GD typically pits in any trending topic of strategic importance for the students to debate on. It could also be a subtract topic, to test the students’ creativity and team work capacity. The beauty of a Group Discussion (GD) is that any statement can be presented from either side or even with a neutral stance as long as the points stated are logical and not factually incorrect. To prove one’s point, citing of data released by credible sources such as the World Bank, World Economic Forum (WEF), Fortune, The Economist, Reuters, etc. is suggested. Students would do well to focus on the 4 Cs of Group Discussions- Content, Collaboration, Communications and Clarity.

About the Author:

Aritro Dasgupta is a Teacher, Trainer and Content Writer. He has taught at several leading colleges and coaching institutes in both India and the UAE. Several of his students have finished in the top 10 of various national level exams such as CLAT, AILET and DUJAT. He is also a prolific content writer, having written for several leading publications in India, while currently, also working for one in the USA.

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