WOMEN BELONG IN ALL PLACES WHERE DECISIONS ARE BEING MADE. IT SHOULDN’T BE THAT WOMEN ARE THE EXCEPTION. – Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
More women make it to the civil service. But equality at home and at work remains a challenge. The latest round of hiring for the elite All India civil services has yielded a heartening statistic. More than one-third of the new recruits, or 34 % are women. Women occupied the top four positions. It is considered one of the toughest in the world, for recruitment to the highest bureaucracy is not unusual. But the substantive increase in women in the latest intake is heartening. Of 933 recruits based on a written test and an interview, 320 are women. Women recruits were 215 in 2021,338 in 2020, and 220 in 2019. It is a turning point in women’s higher representation that they end up in the civil services after a rigorous process and with patience.
It will fall to the government of India to ensure that this statistic of 34% is not just a flash in the pan. Instead, it endures and improves, with a non-discriminatory work culture in a male-dominated ecosystem. It is essential to encourage women to be educated, inspired, financially secure, and independent. We want them to be equal to men at work. There is hardly any talk of an equal ecosystem at home. The record number of women joining the civil service gives hope that we will be able to establish a more equal atmosphere at home by using our “soft power” and discarding outdated ideas. Hence, it is good to see women officers working towards improving women’s education and empowerment. A number of sensitive issues need to be addressed, such as rape cases, child trafficking, and sexual harassment, for which officers can take strict measures.
In order for India to achieve its full economic potential, women must become more active in the civil service as well as in the rest of the workforce.
