C onsidering the importance of gender equality and the role of women in the world today, an entire Millennium Development Goal (MDG) was dedicated to it. The fifth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) was also dedicated to the progress of women and gender equality. The context of social inclusion, on the other hand, refers to discrimination based on different castes people belong to. Different cultures have different definitions of caste. In today’s system, caste divisions involve classification of people into various social groups based on birth, heredity, and economic status. THE INDIAN SCENARIO As per the Global Gender Gap Report (2016) published by the World Economic Forum (WEF), India ranks 87 in a list of 144 countries. There has been an improvement from 2006 when India stood at 98th position out of 115 countries. India is no stranger to issues of discrimination against women and gender inequities, and statistic after statistic bears testimony to this. As per National Crime Records (2015) a total of 3,27,394 cases of crimes against women were reported in 2015. According to the National Family Health Survey-4 (2015-16), 26.8 per cent of Indian girls are married before the age of 18 and 7.9 per cent of Indian girls have already given birth or are pregnant before they turn 19. Around 50-70 per cent of women in India face some form of domestic violence. According to 2015 World Bank data, the adult female literacy rate in India is 63 per cent whereas the adult male literacy rate is 81 per cent. The gender pay gap in India for the year 2013 was recorded at 24.81 per cent by WageIndicator. This gap increased with age. In rural India, the average salary received by regular employees was Rs428.66 per day for women compared with Rs550.23 per day for males (during 2011-12). While 62 per cent of male children receive full immunisation, among girls it is 60 per cent (ministry of statistics and programme implementation, 2012). On average, girls receive fewer immunisations than boys and higher birth order infants have lower vaccination coverage. Girls in India have 61 per cent higher mortality than boys at age 1-4 years. As per the Global Gender Gap Report (2016) published by the World Economic Forum (WEF), India ranks 87 in a list of 144 countries. There has been an improvement from 2006 when India stood at 98th position out of 115 countries. India is no stranger to issues of discrimination against women and gender inequities, and statistic after statistic bears testimony to this. As per National Crime Records (2015) a total of 3,27,394 cases of crimes against women were reported in 2015. According to the National Family Health Survey-4 (2015-16), 26.8 per cent of Indian girls are married before the age of 18 and 7.9 per cent of Indian girls have already given birth or are pregnant before they turn 19. Around 50-70 per cent of women in India face some form of domestic violence. According to 2015 World Bank data, the adult female literacy rate in India is 63 per cent whereas the adult male literacy rate is 81 per cent. The gender pay gap in India for the year 2013 was recorded at 24.81 per cent by WageIndicator. This gap increased with age. In rural India, the average salary received by regular employees was Rs428.66 per day for women compared with Rs550.23 per day for males (during 2011-12). While 62 per cent of male children receive full immunisation, among girls it is 60 per cent (ministry of statistics and programme implementation, 2012). On average, girls receive fewer immunisations than boys and higher birth order infants have lower vaccination coverage. Girls in India have 61 per cent higher mortality than boys at age 1-4 years.
