‘More working women, more GDP'

Investing in empowering the girl child, and their increased participation in the economy are the key to India’s prosperity, said Plan India, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) committed to the welfare of children.

Releasing a report — ‘Because I Am A Girl’ — on the state of the girl child in India at a press conference on Tuesday, the NGO claimed that if the female count in the work force be increased by 10%, India’s gross domestic product (GDP) would rise by 8%.

Raj Nooyi, a member of the Plan India governing board, said, “In India, girls are denied access to health services and education. They also face extremely high levels of violence, abuse and harassment. These impediments can easily be removed, and the returns on the investment are huge.”

Nooyi felt that India’s GDP could increase substantially by focusing on the economic empowerment of the girl child. “By increasing the female to male ratio in the work force by 10%, India’s GDP will increase by 8%,” he said.  India’s GDP is $1.02 trillion and the female to male ratio (as per the report) in the work force is 36:64.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) pledged its support to the cause of the girl child by partnering in Tuesday’s event. “The BSE is proud to partner with Plan India in helping to raise awareness about these critical issues,” said Madhu Kannan, managing director and chief executive officer of the BSE.

Plan India is a part of Plan International, an NGO that works to promote child rights through corporate donations and sponsorship programmes. The NGO has been working in 11 Indian states since 1979.  Plan India launched this campaign for the girl child in 2007. It will be releasing reports every year on the state of the girl child till 2015 — the 20th anniversary of the 1995 Beijing conference on women, where Hillary Clinton had said, “Women’s rights are human rights...”