A Report on the Work of the Working Group of Feminist Economists during the Preparation of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan: 2007-2012 April 2010

Abstract

During the preparation of the Eleventh Plan 2007-2012, the Planning Commission set up a Working Group of Feminist Economists with specialized knowledge on women in the economy and with strong connections to the women’s movement in the country. This new initiative was developed to infuse the knowledge that India’s feminist economists had gathered, into the sectoral chapters of the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012). Engaging with the draft chapters and conferring among themselves at round tables, they established factually the primacy of women and their work in India’s growth achievements. They argued that women were the primary growth agents, and that the planning processes and methods were impeding their own goals by neglecting these facts. This document captures the process and outcome of this initiative.