GS Paper I 2019 · Q19
15 marks · 250 words Women, population, poverty & urbanisation X-Ray · Core #41What are the continued challenges for women in India against time and space ?
Approach · directive: “what are the challenges”
What it asks · Read ‘time’ as challenges that persist across life stages and eras and ‘space’ as those in different settings (home, work, public places, regions, communities), and list them with remedies.
It asks 3 things — answer each
- Interpret time: challenges that persist across a woman's life stages and across eras
- Interpret space: challenges at home, at work, in public places, in politics and across communities
- Suggest how these continued challenges can be addressed
Open with · NFHS-5 (2019-21) finds 57.0 per cent of women aged 15-49 anaemic against 25.0 per cent of men; women's disadvantage is a chain running through time and space.
Cover
- Time as life cycle: son preference and sex-selective abortion (child sex ratio 919), girls' neglect, early marriage, dropout.
- Adolescence and motherhood: 59.1 per cent of adolescent girls anaemic (NFHS-5); marriage and care push women out of work.
- Old and new: widowhood insecurity and dowry persist; cyber-stalking and online abuse are new.
- Home: unequal unpaid care work, tracked by SDG indicator 5.4.1; domestic violence.
- Work: female LFPR up from 23.3 to 41.7 per cent (PLFS 2017-18 to 2023-24), but mostly informal and low-paid.
- Public and political space: harassment and unsafe transport; Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 yet to take effect.
- Way forward: enforce laws, fast-track courts, anaemia screening, childcare, safe transport, timely reservation, men's engagement.
Close with · SDG target 5.5 asks for women's full participation and equal leadership opportunities in political, economic and public life; meeting it at home, work and the legislature breaks the chain.
Add value (verified)
- NFHS-5 (2019-21): 57.0% of women and 25.0% of men aged 15-49 are anaemic; 59.1% of adolescent girls.Anaemia prevalence as per NFHS-5 — PIB, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare ↗“as per the National Family Health Survey 5 (2019-21), is 25.0 percent in men (15-49 years) and 57.0 percent in women (15-49 years). 31.1 percent in adolescent boys (15-19 yrs), 59.1 percent in adolescent girls”
- PLFS 2023-24: female labour-force participation (15+, usual status) rose from 23.3% in 2017-18 to 41.7%.Periodic Labour Force Survey annual report 2023-24 — PIB, MoSPI ↗“corresponding increase in LFPR for female was from 23.3% to 41.7%”
- The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 reserves one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha, State Assemblies and Delhi Assembly for women.Nari Shakti: From Women Development to Women-led Development — PIB backgrounder ↗“which seeks to reserve one-third of the total number of seats for women in Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies and Delhi Assembly”
- SDG indicator 5.4.1 measures time spent on unpaid domestic and care work, by sex.Goal 5: Gender equality — UN DESA SDG portal ↗“5.4.1 Proportion of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work, by sex, age and location”
- SDG target 5.5: women's full participation and equal leadership opportunities in political, economic and public life.Goal 5: Gender equality — UN DESA SDG portal ↗“full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2019, GS Paper I — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 16 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer· 328words · Minimalist IAS
NFHS-5 (2019-21) finds 57.0 per cent of women aged 15-49 anaemic, against 25.0 per cent of men. Women's disadvantage is thus not one event but a chain running through time (life stages and eras) and space (home, work, street and power).
Across time: the life cycle
- Before birth and childhood: son preference drives sex-selective abortion, pushing the child sex ratio down to just 919 girls per 1,000 boys (Census 2011); girls' food and schooling come second.
- Adolescence: 59.1 per cent of adolescent girls are anaemic (NFHS-5), and early marriage cuts schooling short.
- Motherhood and working years: marriage and child care push many women out of jobs.
- Old age: widows face insecurity, dependence and weak property claims.
- Old and new: dowry and domestic violence persist, while cyber-stalking and online abuse open a digital front.
Across space
Spaces of disadvantage: Home; Workplace; Street; Legislature; Online
- Home: unpaid domestic and care work falls mostly on women; SDG indicator 5.4.1 tracks this time by sex.
- Workplace: female labour-force participation rose from 23.3 to 41.7 per cent (PLFS 2017-18 to 2023-24), yet most women work in informal, low-paid jobs and few reach management.
- Public space: harassment, dark streets and unsafe transport curb mobility; under-reporting and slow trials weaken deterrence.
- Political space: one-third reservation exists in panchayats and municipalities, and, since then, the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 provides one-third for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies too.
- Region and community: poor, rural, tribal and Dalit women carry the heaviest load of ill health and exclusion.
Way forward
- Enforce laws on dowry, domestic violence and workplace harassment through fast-track courts; scale anaemia screening and nutrition; fund childcare, safe transport and working women's hostels; implement legislative reservation on time; engage men in changing norms.
SDG target 5.5 asks for women's full and effective participation and equal leadership opportunities in political, economic and public life; meeting it at home, at work and in the legislature is how the chain of time and space breaks.
Prepared by Minimalist IAS to the answer standard of Shivam Singh (mentor, 7 years) · facts checked against official sources (how we verify) · updated 16 Oct 2026. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.
