In News
- Recently, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a “pay equity policy”, saying that its centrally-contracted men and women players would get the same match fees.
Key Points
- This is the first step towards tackling discrimination. Pay equity policy is being implemented for contracted women cricketers.
- Both men and women cricketers will be paid:
- ?15 lakh for Tests,
- ?6 lakh for one-day internationals and
- ?3 lakh for Twenty20 internationals.
Image Courtesy: TH
Gender Pay Gap in India
- Gender pay gap refers to the difference in earnings between women and men in the paid employment and the labour market.
- It is a measure of the gap in the overall earnings of men and women.
- It is calculated by considering several parameters applied to the total number of employed members of both genders.
- This means that it does not account for women who have voluntarily stayed out of the workforce or have taken a sabbatical.
- There are two distinct numbers:
- The unadjusted pay gap: It differentiates between mean and median wages of the two genders
- The adjusted pay gap: It takes into account differences in factors such as occupation, education and job experience.
- So, the difference is starker if you consider the unadjusted figure.
- Unequal pay refers to situations where women are paid less than men for doing the same work.
- To counter this, equal pay is legally enforced in most organized sectors.
Reasons for Pay Gaps in India
- Poor access to the education system and work experience:
- Girl children are sometimes kept out of schools or made to drop out of school early.
- Even if they are educated, many women are not allowed to work by their families.
- A large segment of the well qualified women want to join the workforce because of household responsibilities or social status:
- Women who do join the workforce often need to take extended leaves for maternity and child care, and even the healthcare of other family members.
- Drop in employment:
- A massive drop in casual employment for women in urban areas during the first quarter of the pandemic.
- Social stigma:
- Till India’s social stigma against women in the workforce and the general environment of social injustice against women is not tackled, the gender pay gap may not show any sign of closing.
- Societal and Employers prejudices are responsible for women’s lower wages.
Constitutional Provisions and Efforts Taken to Address the Pay Gap
- The Supreme Court recognised the right to equal pay for equal work to be a constitutional goal under Articles 14, 16, and 39 (d) of the Constitution of India.
- Article 39(d) of the Constitution of India for instance seeks to achieve social justice through the principle of equal pay for equal work.
- Social justice and equality go hand in hand and therefore it can be said that this principle has evolved as a socio-legal imperative.
- The rule of equality under Article 14 of the Indian Constitution in the first instance prohibits any special treatment or privilege and ensures that equal people are treated alike in equal circumstances.
- The Supreme Court has identified several grounds which were held proper for creating wage differences.
- Educational qualification was held to be a valid ground for wage difference.
- Even for similar posts, if there is a difference in nature of work done and extension of reliability and responsibility of one more than the other person.
- A rational basis to give a higher wage to a junior is also identified under the test of reasonable classification.
- If duties and responsibilities are not the same, even though functions are similar.
Way Ahead
- Actively enforce legislation for the protection of the right to equal wages and work.
- Need for work to actively incentivise the participation of women in the workforce, including enhancements in pay, upskilling, job reservations, easy return-to-work options, particularly after maternity leave, and the option to work from home, wherever possible.
- Need to ensure a more equitable distribution of household work and childcare duties between women and men.
- Implementing “living wages” as opposed to minimum wages, particularly for all informal workers, and formalise contractual, temporary, and casual labour as much as possible.
- This decision will inspire young talents to pursue their passion for the sport and that other sports organisations would follow the example established by the BCCI.
Source: TH
