India shows how sexual assault against women can hold back rise of nation

There are two things New Delhi marketing executive Khyati Malhotra never leaves home without: Her taser and a pepper spray.

It’s just part of the investment she makes to stay safe in a country where crimes reported against women have surged over 80 percent in a decade and deadly cases of sexual violence often roil cities and villages. So a chunk of Malhotra’s salary goes into a car and driver to avoid the dangers of public transport, where women are cat-called, groped and assaulted.

In Bangalore, Vidya Laxman, an executive at a multinational in India, pays for a battalion of household help and security cameras to keep her children safe. Sajna Nair of Delhi figures she’s lost almost $200,000 in earnings after quitting a bank job because she couldn’t find safe childcare for her daughter.

In recent months, the rape, torture and murder of an eight-year-old girl in the state of Jammu, an 11-year-old in Gujarat and the rape of 16-year-old in Uttar Pradesh have laid bare how India treats its women and children. Lawmakers have said they will push for more stringent punishments to deter such crimes. Meanwhile, dozens of interviews reveal a less acknowledged economic effect: Increasingly afraid for their own and their children's safety, many women are simply leaving the workforce or taking lower-paying jobs.

Good show by Modi govt in four years; private sector now needs to pitch in

Evaluating the performance of any government on economic grounds is challenging. This is so because direct linkages are at best by chance as phenomena like oil prices, monsoons, global forces etc. affect inflation and exchange rates which are beyond the purview of any government. Further, it would also be disingenuous to say that the NPAs are high during a particular regime due to the ruling government as these things build up over time and mere recognition cannot be attributed to a government.

Hence, to evaluate the performance of the NDA government in the last 4 years a twofold approach is required. The first is to judge what is within the purview of the government and the progress made therein and the second is a comparison of economic indicators in the pre- and post-periods as part of the routine.

The performance of the NDA government in terms of conceptualisation and implementation of policies has been most remarkable with very little left to be done. The major reforms that were noteworthy are bringing in the eNAM (electronic national agricultural market), opening up of FDI (defence and railways equipment included), GST, power sector reforms, addressing NPA issue through the IBC and recap measures, improving the doing business environment, channeling funds for the SMEs etc.