Men Are from Mars, women are from hell. So it seems in India. Any doubts? When it comes to gender-equality, India presents a sorry picture. Not that we need data to bring home what is an everyday reality. Each day brings fresh evidence of the disadvantaged economic and social status of women in India. Whether it is persistent wage differences for male and female, the overwhelming number of women organ donors in contrast to the underwhelming number of women organ receivers, the declining sex ratios or their limited access to medical care, the picture is universally bad.

According to the Planning Commission’s National Human Development Report, 2001, the gender empowerment index was just 67.6% in the early 90s, implying that close to 50 years after independence, women trailed men by a third in human development indicators.