UPSC Mains 2025 GS Paper 2 Question Paper
Q. Women’s social capital complements in advancing empowerment and gender equity. Explain.
Introduction:
Women’s **Social Capital—networks, trust and collective action—acts as a powerful instrument for advancing **women empowerment and gender equity by enhancing participation, access to resources and collective bargaining power.
Role of Women’s Social Capital in Empowerment
Collective economic empowerment
- Women’s groups enable credit access, savings and entrepreneurship.
- Example: Self Help Groups under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission improving financial inclusion.
Improved access to welfare schemes
- Networks help women access health, education and nutrition schemes.
- Example: grassroots mobilisation through **Kudumbashree in Kerala.
Political participation and leadership
- Social networks build leadership skills and political awareness.
- Supports representation after 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments ensuring local body reservations for women.
Information and awareness diffusion
- Peer networks spread awareness on legal rights, reproductive health and education.
Strengthening bargaining power
- Collective action helps challenge patriarchal norms, wage discrimination and violence.
Contribution to Gender Equity
Reduction of gender inequalities
- Social capital increases women’s access to land, credit and markets.
Community development outcomes
- Women’s collectives improve education, sanitation and nutrition indicators.
Global recognition
- Highlighted under United Nations’s Sustainable Development Goal 5 (Gender Equality).
Supporting Evidence / Examples
- SHG–Bank linkage programme supported by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development is one of the world’s largest microfinance initiatives.
- Studies show women’s collectives improve household decision-making and financial autonomy.
Conclusion:
Thus, women’s social capital through collective networks, trust and participation complements economic and political initiatives, becoming a key driver for sustainable empowerment and gender equality.
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