Performance of India on Gender Disparity in Health and Survival: A Temporal Analysis

In India, gender equality is a fundamental human right and a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable society. Within nation and development strategies, gender disparity is critical because it disables women to make decisions that impact their overall health and families. This paper is an attempt to analyse the determinants which are accountable for measuring gender disparity in health and survival. The present study has focused on different determinants of women health and survival viz., nutritional status, reproductive health, women’s empowerment and gender-based violence etc. that ensure gender equality. Study relied on secondary data obtained from various international and national reports viz., Global Gender Gap Reports (GGI), National Family Health Survey III, IV and V, NSSO (National Sample Survey Organization), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MSPM) and National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB). The study found that as per latest NFHS-V findings sex ratio (1020), institutional births (88.6%), adoption of family planning methods (66.7%), total fertility rate (TFR) (2.0), has improved but other indicators of health like sex ratio at birth (929) (SRB), anaemia among pregnant and all women (57%) and obesity among women (24%) and men (22.9%) has not improved compared to previous rounds (NFHSIV&III).The NCRB report findings revealed that crime against women in India increased from 56.5 per cent in year 2020 to 64.5 per cent in year 2021.