GS-III • Economy • Statistical Reforms
WPI Base Year Revision & Introduction of Producer Price Index (PPI)
Syllabus Relevance
GS-III: Inflation & Index Numbers
GS-III: Monetary Policy
GS-III: Industrial Growth
GS-III: Statistical Reforms
GS-III: Infrastructure & PPP Contracts
GS-II: Data Governance
GS-II: Evidence-based Policymaking
1
Issue in Brief
- Wholesale Price Index (WPI) base year revised from 2011–12 to 2022–23, replacing an outdated basket that missed renewables, digital services, and post-pandemic structural shifts in India’s economy.
- Three new Producer Price Indices introduced — Output PPI, Input PPI, and Service PPI — marking India’s shift toward globally accepted price measurement standards.
- New series to be released on 15 June 2026 by the Office of Economic Adviser, DPIIT; WPI will run parallel for 5 years before discontinuation.
- Transition aligns with IMF recommendations and practices of advanced economies like USA, EU, UK, and Japan, which already use PPI as their primary producer-side price measure.
2
Static Background
What is WPI?
- WPI measures price changes at the wholesale/bulk transaction level, before goods reach the retail consumer; it captures inflation from the producer’s perspective, not the consumer’s.
- Released monthly by the Office of Economic Adviser, DPIIT under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry; widely used in price escalation clauses in infrastructure and PPP contracts.
Key Distinction: RBI uses CPI, not WPI, for its 4% inflation targeting (±2 band) under the Flexible Inflation Targeting framework introduced in 2016.
Historical Base Year Revisions of WPI
- Revisions: 1952–53, 1961–62, 1970–71, 1981–82, 1993–94, 2004–05, 2011–12, and now 2022–23 — each revision reflects structural changes in the economy’s production basket.
- Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) on Statistics of Price and Cost of Living (SPCL) approved the compilation methodology before its presentation to the National Statistical Commission (NSC).
- Final approval granted by the competent authority on 25 May 2026; institutional layering ensures statistical credibility and independence of the revision process.
3
Key Dimensions
A. Expanded Item Coverage
- Total items in WPI basket increased from 697 to 957, a rise of 260 items (~37%), capturing new sectors like renewable energy, advanced manufacturing, and emerging commodity categories.
- Broader basket improves representativeness of India’s evolved production structure, reducing the risk of index distortion due to missing or under-weighted commodities.
- Solar energy, wind energy, and nuclear electricity added under the ‘Electricity’ group for the first time, reflecting India’s rapidly expanding clean energy capacity.
- Critical given India’s target of 500 GW renewable energy capacity by 2030; the old WPI basket was blind to price movements in this strategically important sector.
- Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas shifted from ‘Primary Articles’ to ‘Fuel and Power’ group, consolidating all major energy commodities — coal, electricity, petroleum products — under one unified group.
- This reorganisation enables coherent, integrated tracking of energy price movements and improves analytical clarity for policymakers and researchers studying energy inflation.
- GVO-based (Gross Value of Output) weights are superior because they represent what is actually produced domestically, eliminating distortions caused by import-export fluctuations in the old weighting formula.
- Chain-based method recalculates the index frequently, making it more responsive to recent price changes and avoiding the base-year drift problem of long-term formulations.
- Targeted Mean Imputation replaces the carry-forward method, where missing prices were simply repeated — a statistically flawed practice that artificially suppressed price volatility.
| Index | Price Basis | Weight Source | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Output PPI | Basic Price (excl. taxes & margins) | Supply Table, National Accounts 2022–23 | Monthly |
| Input PPI | Purchaser’s Price (incl. taxes & margins) | Use Table, National Accounts 2022–23 | Monthly (Experimental) |
| Service PPI | Basic Price | Administrative sources (7 services, Phase 1) | Quarterly |
Output PPI
Price BasisBasic Price (excl. taxes & margins)
Weight SourceSupply Table, National Accounts 2022–23
FrequencyMonthly
Input PPI
Price BasisPurchaser’s Price (incl. taxes & margins)
Weight SourceUse Table, National Accounts 2022–23
FrequencyMonthly (Experimental)
Service PPI
Price BasisBasic Price
Weight SourceAdministrative sources (7 services, Phase 1)
FrequencyQuarterly
- Phase 1 covers: Banking, Securities Transaction, Insurance, Management of Pension Funds, Railways, Air (Passenger), and Telecom — selected based on data availability from administrative sources.
- Services contribute approximately 55% of India’s GDP; their complete exclusion from WPI was a significant structural gap in India’s inflation measurement architecture.
- WPI, Output PPI, and Service PPI compiled at Basic Price, which excludes net taxes and trade/transport margins — capturing the pure price at the point of production.
- Input PPI compiled at Purchaser’s Price — includes taxes and margins — because industries actually buy inputs at market prices, making this the economically accurate basis for input cost measurement.
- WPI and Output PPI back series available monthly from April 2023 to April 2026 (37 months); Service PPI back series available quarterly from Q1 2023–24 to Q3 2025–26.
- Input PPI released on experimental/trial basis from March 2026 to assess data quality and gather stakeholder feedback before regular publication.
4
Critical Analysis
Strengths of the Revision
- The jump from 697 to 957 items makes the index far more representative of India’s diversified industrial structure, reducing the measurement errors that plagued the outdated 2011–12 basket.
- Inclusion of renewables (solar, wind, nuclear) in the WPI basket is timely; India’s energy mix is transforming rapidly, and price indices must reflect this structural shift for accurate inflation analysis.
- Chain-based indexing and Targeted Mean Imputation bring India’s statistical methodology closer to international standards, improving the credibility of data for foreign investors and multilateral institutions.
- WPI captures prices at the first point of bulk sale, which includes trade margins and taxes — distorting the true price signal received by producers at the factory or farm gate.
- PPI measures prices at the producer level (Basic Price), providing a cleaner, purer signal of production-side inflation that is more useful for monetary policy and national accounts compilation.
- The IMF’s Producer Price Index Manual explicitly recommends PPI as the internationally accepted standard; India’s adoption closes a long-standing gap in statistical best practices.
- A rising Input PPI with stable Output PPI indicates producers are absorbing cost pressures, compressing margins — a leading indicator of corporate stress and potential future supply contraction.
- A rising Output PPI ahead of CPI signals that cost-push inflation is being passed to consumers — this makes the PPI spread a valuable leading indicator for RBI’s monetary policy decisions.
Critical Gap: Service PPI covers only 7 services in Phase 1, leaving out critical sectors like healthcare, education, real estate, and logistics — limiting its utility as a comprehensive services inflation measure.
- Input PPI is experimental, meaning its data quality and methodological robustness are yet to be validated — policymakers cannot rely on it for major decisions in the near term.
- Quarterly frequency of Service PPI versus monthly frequency for goods indices creates a timing mismatch that complicates real-time inflation analysis and policy response.
- WPI is embedded in thousands of infrastructure and PPP contracts through escalation clauses; the 5-year transition window may be insufficient for complex, long-term public contracts to migrate smoothly.
- Linking factor methodology (geometric mean of 2024–25 indices) introduces a statistical discontinuity, making long-run historical comparisons between old and new series technically challenging.
5
Way Forward
- Expand Service PPI progressively to include healthcare, education, real estate, and logistics in subsequent phases, leveraging GST transaction data and administrative records for weight derivation.
- Upgrade Input PPI from trial to regular release after rigorous data quality assessment, stakeholder consultation, and methodology validation over the initial experimental period.
- Integrate PPI with GST and e-commerce price data to enable near-real-time price collection, reducing data lags and improving the accuracy of monthly index compilation.
- Capacity building for public procurement officials is essential to facilitate smooth migration of price escalation clauses in PPP and infrastructure contracts from WPI to PPI within the 5-year window.
- Align with SNA 2025 (System of National Accounts) framework to ensure India’s price statistics remain internationally comparable and eligible for IMF Article IV assessments.
- NSC and TAC-SPCL should establish a permanent review mechanism for periodic basket updates — preventing the next index from becoming as outdated as the 2011–12 WPI became by 2026.
6
Prelims Pointers
- WPI Base Year: Revised from 2011–12 to 2022–23; new series release on 15 June 2026.
- Nodal Ministry: Office of Economic Adviser, DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
- WPI Basket: Expanded from 697 → 957 items (addition of ~260 items, ~37% rise).
- New Indices: Output PPI, Input PPI, Service PPI; parallel operation for 5 years before WPI discontinuation.
- Output PPI Price Basis: Basic Price (excl. taxes & margins) | Source: Supply Table.
- Input PPI Price Basis: Purchaser’s Price (incl. taxes & margins) | Source: Use Table.
- Service PPI: Phase 1 — 7 services: Banking, Securities Transaction, Insurance, Pension Fund Management, Railways, Air Passenger, Telecom; frequency: Quarterly.
- Imputation Change: Carry-forward replaced by Targeted Mean Imputation; indexing switched to chain-based method.
- New Additions: Solar, wind, nuclear electricity added under ‘Electricity’ group; Crude Petroleum & Natural Gas shifted to ‘Fuel & Power’.
- Weight Methodology: Old — Net Value of Output (NVO); New — Gross Value of Output (GVO).
- RBI Inflation Targeting: Based on CPI (not WPI); target: 4% ±2 band (since 2016).
- TAC-SPCL: Technical Advisory Committee on Statistics of Price and Cost of Living — approves methodology before NSC review.
- IMF Recommendation: IMF Producer Price Index Manual recommends PPI over WPI as international standard.
- Back Series: WPI & Output PPI — monthly from Apr 2023 to Apr 2026 (37 months); Service PPI — quarterly from Q1 2023–24 to Q3 2025–26.
7
Practice Mains Questions
GS-III | 15 Marks
“The transition from WPI to PPI in India is not merely a statistical correction but a structural reform in how inflation is understood and governed.” Critically examine, with reference to monetary policy, contract management, and international best practices.
GS-III | 10 Marks
Discuss the key methodological improvements introduced in the revised WPI (base year 2022–23). How do chain-based indexing and Targeted Mean Imputation enhance the quality and reliability of India’s price statistics?
8
Practice MCQ with Explanation
Q. With reference to India’s Producer Price Index (PPI), consider the following statements:
- The Input PPI is compiled using Basic Price, which excludes taxes and trade margins.
- The Output PPI weights are derived from the Use Table of National Accounts.
- The Service PPI in Phase 1 covers seven services including Banking and Telecom.
- The transition from WPI to PPI is in line with IMF recommendations.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 3 and 4 only
- (c) 1, 3 and 4 only
- (d) 2, 3 and 4 only
Answer: (b) — Statements 3 and 4 only
- Statement 1 — Incorrect. Input PPI is compiled using Purchaser’s Price, not Basic Price. Purchaser’s Price includes taxes and trade/transport margins, which is appropriate since industries buy inputs at market prices.
- Statement 2 — Incorrect. Output PPI weights are derived from the Supply Table; the Use Table is the source for Input PPI weights — a critical distinction reflecting production versus consumption sides.
- Statement 3 — Correct. Service PPI Phase 1 covers exactly 7 services: Banking, Securities Transaction, Insurance, Pension Fund Management, Railways, Air Passenger, and Telecom.
- Statement 4 — Correct. The IMF explicitly recommends PPI over WPI as the internationally accepted standard for measuring producer-side price changes, consistent with the PPI Manual published by the IMF.
GS-I / GS-II / GS-III • Society • Governance • Economy
Women Empowerment in India — Policy, Progress & Gaps
Syllabus Relevance
GS-I: Women Empowerment & Gender Issues
GS-II: Welfare Schemes & SHGs
GS-II: PRI & Political Representation
GS-III: Female LFPR
GS-III: Financial Inclusion & Skilling
1
Issue in Brief
- India has pursued a lifecycle-based approach to women’s empowerment — covering education, health, skills, finance, safety, and political representation under converging policy frameworks since 2014.
- Progress is measurable: female enrolment, financial inclusion, healthcare access, and political participation have all recorded statistically significant improvements over the past decade.
- However, gaps persist in representation, quality of employment, service delivery in remote areas, and transition from scheme beneficiary to independent economic actor.
- Women’s empowerment is now explicitly positioned as a prerequisite for Viksit Bharat 2047, recognising that demographic dividend cannot be realised without female labour force participation.
2
Static Background
Constitutional and Legal Framework
- Article 14 — Equality before law; Article 15(3) — permits special provisions for women and children; Article 16 — equal opportunity in public employment.
- Article 243D — mandates not less than 1/3rd reservation for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions; foundation for today’s 46% female representation in PRIs.
- Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 — provides 33% reservation for women in Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies; implementation pending delimitation exercise.
- National Policy for Women, 2016 — umbrella policy for gender equity across sectors.
- National Education Policy, 2020 — mandates gender-inclusive education; integrates Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi for early childhood care.
- Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) — launched 2015; targets sex ratio at birth, girls’ education, and empowerment in districts with low Child Sex Ratio.
| Sector | Key Scheme(s) | Nodal Ministry |
|---|---|---|
| Education | Samagra Shiksha, KGBV, Vigyan Jyoti, PRAGATI | Ministry of Education |
| Health & Nutrition | AB-PMJAY, Poshan 2.0, Mission Indradhanush, AAM | MoH&FW, WCD |
| Financial Inclusion | PMJDY, PMMY, DAY-NRLM, Stand-Up India, SVANidhi | Finance, Rural Dev. |
| Skilling | PMKVY, NAVYA | Skill Development |
| Safety & Housing | Mission Shakti, PMAY, PMUY, JJM | WCD, Housing, MoPNG |
| Political Empowerment | Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, Article 243D | Law & Justice, MoPR |
Education
SchemesSamagra Shiksha, KGBV, Vigyan Jyoti, PRAGATI
Nodal MinistryMinistry of Education
Health & Nutrition
SchemesAB-PMJAY, Poshan 2.0, Mission Indradhanush, AAM
Nodal MinistryMoH&FW, WCD
Financial Inclusion
SchemesPMJDY, PMMY, DAY-NRLM, Stand-Up India, SVANidhi
Nodal MinistryFinance, Rural Development
Safety & Housing
SchemesMission Shakti, PMAY, PMUY, JJM
Nodal MinistryWCD, Housing, MoPNG
3
Key Dimensions
A. Education — Access, Infrastructure, and Retention
- Female enrolment in schools grew from 1.57 crore (32%) in 2014–15 to 11.93 crore (48%) in 2024–25 — a near-tripling in absolute numbers and a 16-percentage-point jump in share.
- Samagra Shiksha (2018–19) integrates pre-primary to Class XII under one framework; over 4,073 schools upgraded and 1.49 lakh ICT/digital learning initiatives supported between 2018–19 and 2025–26.
- School infrastructure — critical for girl child retention: 97.3% schools have functional girls’ toilets (up from 92.09% in 2014–15) and 99.3% have drinking water (up from 95.72%).
- Vocational education coverage expanded from 9,477 to 25,000 schools, improving early skilling and reducing pressure on girls to drop out for economic reasons.
Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs): Residential schools for girls from SC, ST, OBC, and minority communities in educationally backward blocks; cover Classes VI to XII under Samagra Shiksha. Functional KGBVs increased from 4,996 (2022) to 5,316 (2026); enrolment grew from 6.07 lakh (2020–21) to 7.58 lakh (2025–26). KGBVs address the specific barrier of distance and safety that prevents marginalised girls from accessing secondary education in rural areas.
B. Higher Education and STEM
- Vigyan Jyoti Scheme (launched December 2019) — supports girls in Classes IX–XII through mentoring, lab exposure, and workshops; reached 1.12 lakh girls across 300 districts in 34 States and UTs.
- Supernumerary seats in IITs and NITs raised women’s participation from below 10% to over 20% — a structural correction to institutional gender imbalance without reducing male seats.
- Women accounted for over 53% of UGC NET-JRF scholars in STEM subjects in 2024–25 — a counterintuitive and significant data point challenging the narrative of women’s disinterest in science.
- Over 12 lakh additional women enrolled in higher education between 2014–15 and 2022–23, supported partly by the Central Sector Scholarship (50% reserved for girls) and National PG Scholarship (₹1.5 lakh/year, 3,000 women annually).
- AICTE PRAGATI Scholarship — 10,000 scholarships annually since 2014–15; nearly 36,000 girl students benefited by 2024–25 in technical diploma and degree courses.
- PMKVY (2015) — nearly 45% of beneficiaries are women across all phases; cumulative training: PMKVY 1.0 (19 lakh), 2.0 (1.10 crore), 3.0 (7.35 lakh), 4.0 (27 lakh trained, 18.79 lakh certified in 3 years).
- PMKVY 4.0 focuses on future-ready sectors — AI, drones, green energy, electronics — aligning women’s skilling with India’s emerging industrial and technological priorities.
- NAVYA (2025) — targets girls aged 16–18 years in 27 Aspirational and North-Eastern districts across 19 states; trains in digital marketing, cybersecurity, AI services, and sustainable jobs; as of December 2025, 1,295 enrolled, 671 trained — early-stage implementation.
- AB-PMJAY — over 43.52 crore Ayushman cards created (as of February 2026); women hold nearly 49% (21 crore); 4.97 crore women have received authorised hospital admissions; women constitute 48% of authorised admissions.
- Ayushman Arogya Mandirs (AAM) — 1.84 lakh centres operational (as of February 2026); provide maternal healthcare, NCD screening, and reproductive healthcare at primary level, reducing the distance barrier for rural women.
- Mission Indradhanush — 5.46 crore children and 1.32 crore pregnant women vaccinated against vaccine-preventable diseases through U-WIN digital platform; 8.73 crore women screened for cervical cancer (as of February 2026).
- Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 — 1.03 lakh Anganwadi Centres upgraded; 10.58 lakh Anganwadi Workers trained; focus on SAM/MAM treatment, diet diversity, and Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi (play-based early learning aligned with NEP 2020).
- PM Jan Dhan Yojana (2014) — foundation of women’s financial inclusion; zero-balance accounts enabled access to Direct Benefit Transfers, insurance, and credit for previously unbanked women.
- Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (2015) — minimum deposit ₹250; interest rate 8.2% per annum; tax-free under Section 80C; targeted at girls up to 10 years; promotes long-term financial planning for daughters’ education and marriage.
- DAY-NRLM — covers 7,627 blocks; SHGs accessed ₹12.18 lakh crore in bank credit; 50,548 Bank Sakhis deployed; 5.88 lakh enterprises supported under SVEP; 1.51 crore community cadre members developed.
- Lakhpati Didi — target of 6 crore Lakhpati Didis (annual income ≥ ₹1 lakh); currently covers 34 States/UTs, 757 districts, 93.85 lakh SHGs with 10.07 crore members.
- PMMY (2015) — collateral-free loans under Shishu, Kishor, Tarun, and Tarun Plus categories; total loans grew from 3.49 crore (2015–16) to 57.79 crore (till March 2026); total amount from ₹1.37 lakh crore to ₹40.07 lakh crore.
- Stand-Up India (2016–March 2025) — loans of ₹10 lakh to ₹1 crore for women entrepreneurs; supported 2.05 lakh women entrepreneurs; women accounts grew from 55,000 (2018) to 1.90 lakh (2024).
- PM SVANidhi — over 1.15 crore loans sanctioned; women are 46% of beneficiaries; loans up to ₹15,000 (first tranche), ₹25,000 and ₹50,000 for timely repayment; 7% interest subsidy provided.
- NaMo Drone Didi (November 2023) — scheme outlay ₹1,261 crore (2023–24 to 2025–26); targets 15,000 drones to women SHGs; 1,094 drones distributed in 2023–24; training conducted at DGCA-authorised Remote Pilot Training Organisations.
- Womaniya on GeM (2019) — 2.1 lakh women-led enterprises registered; 13.7 lakh orders in FY 2025–26; ₹28,000 crore+ contract value awarded; accounts for 5.6% of GeM’s total order value, surpassing the mandated 3% procurement target.
- SHE-Mart (announced Union Budget 2026–27) — community-owned retail spaces managed by SHG federations for direct consumer sales; target of benefiting 1 crore women.
- Mission Shakti (April 2022) — two verticals: Sambal (safety: OSCs, Women Helpline 181, Nari Adalat) and Samarthya (empowerment: Shakhi Sadan, Sakhi Niwas, Palna creche scheme); 973 One Stop Centres operational; 14.49 lakh women assisted; 3 crore+ women supported through Helpline 181.
- 15,000+ Women Help Desks across police stations; integrated with Emergency Response Support System (ERSS-112) for faster response to distress calls.
- SHe-Box portal — enables online reporting of workplace sexual harassment complaints; digital grievance mechanism aligned with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act).
- PMAY-Gramin — 4.15 crore houses allocated, 2.99 crore completed (as of March 2026); financial assistance over ₹4.03 lakh crore; 96% houses under PMAY-U 2.0 allotted to women — asset ownership being systematically transferred to women.
- PMUY (2016) — 10.55 crore LPG connections released (as of 14 May 2026); reduces indoor air pollution, a major cause of respiratory disease in women; deposit-free connection design removes the upfront cost barrier.
- Jal Jeevan Mission (2019) — 15.84 crore families given tap water connections; reduces women’s daily water-fetching burden — historically a multi-hour task — freeing time for education and income activities; mission extended to 2028.
- Women constituted 48.62% of the electorate (47 crore+ registered voters) in 2024; voter turnout at 65.78%, marginally higher than men — a significant democratic participation milestone.
- 75 women elected to Lok Sabha in 2024; women account for nearly 17% of Rajya Sabha members; electoral candidacy rose to nearly 10% in 2024.
- 14.5 lakh+ women elected representatives in PRIs — nearly 46% of total PRI representatives; grassroots governance increasingly shaped by women’s priorities (water, sanitation, nutrition, schools).
- Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 — 33% reservation for women in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies; implementation linked to post-delimitation exercise; a structural legislative intervention for long-term representation.
- First batch of 17 women cadets graduated from NDA in 2025; women entered NDA in 2022 following Supreme Court direction; 158 women cadets at NDA by early 2026 — marks integration into combat-track military institutions.
4
Critical Analysis
Achievements Worth Noting
- The shift from isolated schemes to lifecycle convergence — Poshan 2.0, Samagra Shiksha, Ayushman Bharat, and Mission Shakti operating as interconnected systems — represents a mature policy design compared to siloed programmes of earlier decades.
- Women holding 53% of UGC NET-JRF STEM scholarships challenges the structural narrative that girls self-select out of science; it points to aspiration being present when institutional access improves.
- Womaniya exceeding the 3% GeM procurement mandate (achieving 5.6%) demonstrates that women-led enterprises can compete in formal procurement markets when digital access is provided.
Missing Middle Problem: Female Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) remains structurally low in India despite gains in education and skilling. LFPR gains have not matched enrolment or skilling progress — a missing middle problem between education and employment. (Verification Required for precise current figure)
- NAVYA’s reach is extremely limited — 671 girls trained against a target of 3,850, across only 27 districts; aspirational programme but implementation scale is negligible relative to the demographic need.
- Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam has not yet come into effect — reservation for women in Parliament depends on delimitation, which has no confirmed timeline; the law exists on paper but delivers no representation benefit currently.
- Quality of PMKVY training has been questioned across evaluations; 18.79 lakh certified out of 27 lakh trained in PMKVY 4.0 means nearly one-third did not get certified.
- SHE-Mart is announced but unimplemented (Union Budget 2026–27); premature to assess impact; the gap between scheme announcement and ground-level rollout remains a recurring governance challenge.
- Women’s participation as electoral candidates remains at only ~10% despite strong voter turnout; turnout without candidacy representation suggests women remain voters but not yet leaders at parliamentary levels.
- Schemes like PMUY and JJM reduce the burden of domestic labour — essential, but they address symptoms of gender inequity (women doing unpaid care work) rather than redistributing that work structurally.
- Asset registration in women’s names under PMAY is a deeper structural intervention — property ownership is consistently linked in literature to improved bargaining power, reduced domestic violence, and better child outcomes.
- The SHG-to-Lakhpati Didi pipeline is the most coherent economic graduation model — from savings group to credit access to enterprise to formal market (Womaniya/GeM); but the target of 6 crore Lakhpati Didis vs 10.07 crore SHG members implies roughly 60% graduation rate is expected, which is ambitious.
5
Way Forward
- Bridge the education-employment gap by mandating placement tracking for PMKVY-certified women and linking skilling centres with industry clusters in districts where women’s LFPR is critically low.
- Accelerate delimitation or delink Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam implementation from it through interim legislative mechanisms; delayed implementation erodes credibility of the reservation commitment.
- Expand NAVYA from 27 to at least 200 districts in the next phase; future-skills training for adolescent girls cannot remain a pilot when AI and green economy transitions are already reshaping labour markets.
- Strengthen POSH Act implementation beyond large corporates to cover informal sector women, domestic workers, and gig workers — segments with highest vulnerability and lowest institutional protection.
- Integrate gender-disaggregated data into all scheme monitoring frameworks; currently many schemes report aggregate beneficiary counts without tracking women’s outcomes — income, employment, health — post-intervention.
- Scale SHE-Mart with dedicated budgetary allocation and SHG federation capacity building; retail market access is the final bottleneck in the rural women’s enterprise value chain.
- Address unpaid care work through a national policy framework — childcare infrastructure (Palna creches), elder care, and flexible work norms are prerequisites for sustained female LFPR improvement.
6
Prelims Pointers
- Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023: 33% reservation in Lok Sabha + State Assemblies; pending delimitation.
- Article 243D: Minimum 1/3rd reservation for women in PRIs — foundation for current 46% representation.
- BBBP: Launched 2015; targets sex ratio at birth, girls’ education, empowerment in low Child Sex Ratio districts.
- KGBVs: Residential schools for marginalised girls (SC/ST/OBC/Minority), Classes VI–XII under Samagra Shiksha; 5,316 functional (2026); 7.58 lakh enrolled.
- Vigyan Jyoti: Launched December 2019; targets girls Classes IX–XII in STEM; 1.12 lakh girls, 300 districts, 34 States/UTs.
- NAVYA (2025): Digital skilling for girls aged 16–18 in 27 Aspirational/NE districts; 671 trained (as of Dec 2025).
- Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana: Min deposit ₹250; interest 8.2% p.a.; tax-free under Section 80C; for girls ≤10 years.
- DAY-NRLM: 7,627 blocks; ₹12.18 lakh crore bank credit; 50,548 Bank Sakhis; 5.88 lakh enterprises (SVEP).
- Lakhpati Didi: Target 6 crore; annual income ≥ ₹1 lakh; 93.85 lakh SHGs, 10.07 crore members.
- NaMo Drone Didi: ₹1,261 crore outlay; 15,000 drones to SHGs; launched November 2023.
- Womaniya on GeM: 2.1 lakh women enterprises; 5.6% of GeM order value (mandate was 3%); ₹28,000+ crore contracts.
- SHE-Mart: Announced Union Budget 2026–27; SHG federation-managed retail; target: 1 crore women.
- Mission Shakti: Two verticals — Sambal (safety) + Samarthya (empowerment); 973 One Stop Centres; Helpline 181.
- SHe-Box: Online portal for POSH Act complaints; aligned with POSH Act, 2013.
- PMUY: 10.55 crore LPG connections (as of May 2026); deposit-free.
- JJM: 15.84 crore tap connections; extended to 2028.
- AB-PMJAY: 43.52 crore Ayushman cards; women hold ~49% (21 crore); 4.97 crore women admissions authorised.
- NDA Women Cadets: First 17 graduated 2025; 158 cadets by early 2026; SC direction in 2022.
- Voter Data 2024: Women — 48.62% electorate, 65.78% turnout; 75 elected to Lok Sabha; 46% PRI representatives.
- PMAY-U 2.0: 96% houses allotted to women (note: Urban, not Gramin).
7
Practice Mains Questions
GS-II | 15 Marks
“India’s approach to women’s empowerment has evolved from targeted welfare to systemic convergence, yet structural barriers persist.” Critically examine this statement with reference to key government schemes and data from the past decade.
GS-I | 10 Marks
Analyse the role of Self Help Groups in women’s economic empowerment in India. How have schemes like DAY-NRLM, Lakhpati Didi, and Womaniya on GeM created an integrated pathway from financial inclusion to market participation?
GS-II | 10 Marks
Despite constitutional provisions and legislative measures, women’s political representation in India’s Parliament remains disproportionately low. Examine the causes and suggest structural reforms to bridge this gap.
8
Practice MCQ with Explanation
Q. With reference to women-focused government schemes in India, consider the following statements:
- Vigyan Jyoti Scheme was launched in December 2019 and covers girls from Classes IX to XII.
- Under PMAY-Gramin, 96% of houses have been allotted to women as of March 2026.
- The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 provides 33% reservation for women in Parliament and State Legislatures.
- Input PPI under the new WPI framework is compiled on the basis of Basic Price.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 and 3 only
- (b) 2 and 4 only
- (c) 1, 2 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 3 and 4 only
Answer: (a) — Statements 1 and 3 only
- Statement 1 — Correct. Vigyan Jyoti was launched in December 2019 and targets girls from Classes IX to XII in STEM through mentoring, lab visits, and workshops.
- Statement 2 — Incorrect. The 96% allotment to women figure applies to PMAY-Urban 2.0, not PMAY-Gramin. Under PMAY-Gramin, 4.15 crore houses were allocated and 2.99 crore completed — but the 96% women-allotment statistic is specifically Urban.
- Statement 3 — Correct. Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 provides 33% reservation for women in Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies, pending delimitation for implementation.
- Statement 4 — Incorrect. Input PPI is compiled using Purchaser’s Price, not Basic Price. Basic Price is used for WPI, Output PPI, and Service PPI. This is a deliberate design choice since industries buy inputs at market prices inclusive of taxes and margins.
