Q. Despite the rhetoric of ‘Nari Shakti’ and women-led development, the domestic sphere remains a site of structural inequality in India. Discuss.

 

Q. Despite the rhetoric of ‘Nari Shakti’ and women-led development, the domestic sphere remains a site of structural inequality in India. Discuss.

Answer:
The discourse of “Nari Shakti” and “women-led development” has gained prominence in India’s political narrative. However, the everyday realities of the domestic sphere reflect deep structural inequalities that remain largely unaddressed.

Violence within the home is one of the most critical issues. NFHS-5 reveals that nearly 30% of women report intimate partner violence, yet only 14% approach the police. Dowry deaths alone claim around 7,000 lives annually, adding up to 35,000 between 2017–2022. Despite this, there is political silence on domestic violence, marital rape, and women’s right to exit violent marriages, often justified under the rhetoric of “Indian culture” and “protection of the family institution.”

Equally stark is the question of women’s work. The Time Use Survey (2024) shows 93% of women engage in unpaid domestic services for seven hours daily, while men contribute less than 90 minutes. Women’s unpaid work, valued by SBI (2023) at 7% of GDP, remains invisible in economic statistics. Furthermore, millions of women working as ASHA, Anganwadi, and mid-day meal workers are treated as “volunteers,” paid meagre honorariums rather than minimum wages.

Such undervaluation sustains both patriarchy and capitalism—keeping subsistence wages low while invisibilising women’s contribution. The glorification of women’s disproportionate care work as “Indian social fabric” perpetuates inequality.

To address this, India needs strict enforcement against domestic violence, recognition of unpaid labour, universal childcare facilities, fair wages for scheme workers, and cultural shifts encouraging shared domestic responsibility. Without these, the rhetoric of empowerment risks remaining hollow.