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[global times special correspondent bai yuan, global times special correspondent in india mi xiaoya] the us consumer news and business channel (cnbc) reported on the 26th that indian prime minister modi wants to increase india's total economic output to 5 trillion us dollars by 2030 and become a developed country by 2047. some indian economists believe that if the female labor force participation rate in india is not increased, it will be difficult to achieve this goal. last year, the female labor force participation rate in india was about 33%, higher than 27% 10 years ago, but still behind china, the united states, germany, japan and other countries. the female labor force participation rate in these four countries is above 50%.

indian prime minister modi source: visual china

the times of india reported that if india wants to achieve its goal of a $30 trillion economy by 2047, it needs to double the female labor force participation rate to 70%. according to current development trends, there will be only 110 million working women in india by 2047, and an additional 145 million working women are needed to achieve development goals.

cnbc quoted kumar, a senior researcher at the observer research foundation, as saying that although the literacy rate of indian women has increased, the fertility rate is declining, urbanization is advancing, and the economy has grown, these have limited effects on increasing the female labor force participation rate in india. she said that the lack of safety in public places is one of the important reasons for the low female labor force participation rate in india. in order to avoid sexual harassment or sexual assault as much as possible, many young women are only allowed to go to markets or places near their homes and cannot go too far from home. many female students have to attend "lower-quality universities." india's business standard reported that gita gopinath, the indian-born first deputy managing director of the international monetary fund, said that ensuring women's safety is very important to increasing the female labor force participation rate in india.

some analysts believe that the low female labor force participation rate is closely related to india's culture and social atmosphere. jayati ghosh, professor of economics at jawaharlal nehru university, said that discrimination against women in indian society is deeply rooted. if india wants to become a developed country and achieve its established economic goals, it must eradicate these concepts and eliminate systematic gender discrimination barriers. gynecologist kotwal said that india's social system and culture treat women as second-class citizens, and this concept will take decades of effort to change.

according to the observation of the global times' special correspondent in india, most middle-class families in india hope that women will stay at home after marriage to take care of their husbands and children. there is a general tendency of "male chauvinism" in the central and northern regions, and some husbands with better economic conditions do not encourage their wives to work outside and have independent sources of income.

the industries that women are allowed to continue to work in after marriage are basically concentrated in several fields, such as medical care, education, clothing and beauty. this is because doctors are highly respected and their families can benefit from it, education serves children, and the customers of the clothing and beauty industries are mainly women. at the same time, women in cities who are not well educated or come from rural areas can only work in manual labor, such as being maids, cleaning, and moving bricks at construction sites.