Thiruvananthapuram:
A pretty good place for women, not so much for industries seems a good summing up of Kerala after the latest national data on various states in India on women’s safety and ease of doing business.
On the first-ever gender vulnerability index (GVI) released this week, Goa topped the list as the safest state for women in India, and Kerala came a reputable second. These two states were followed by Mizoram, Sikkim and Manipur, all of which are in the north-east of the country.
The index has a scale of zero to one, with a score closer to one making it better on women’s safety. Goa topped with a GVI of 0.656, followed by Kerala with 0.634. The national average is 0.531.
The report was released by Plan India, and released by the federal ministry for women and child development. It considered four parameters, namely education, health, poverty, and protection against violence.
Bihar was the bottom-placed state with a GVI of only 0.410, but a surprise was Delhi, the national capital, ranked at an abysmal 28th place among the 29 states. The survey showed that 39 per cent of girls in Bihar married before the legal age for marriage.
It is a different story for Kerala, though, when it comes to industry friendliness. In a study based on 400 directives given by the federal government to cut red tape with regard to industry and investments, Kerala comes a poor 27th, down from its rank of 20 in 2016.
Telangana tops the list, followed by Haryana and Odisha. In a surprise, Gujarat has slipped from the 3rd rank in 2016, to be placed at the 9th position in 2017.
Kerala is currently witnessing a people’s protest at Mukkam near Kozhikode against the laying of a gas pipeline by the Gas Authority of India. Local residents allege that the project involves large-scale displacement and that the compensation packages are not attractive.
