THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It is easier to preach than to practise when it comes to women empowerment. However, two districts in Kerala — Thiruvananthapuram and Idukki — have shown that gender equality manifests itself more in deeds than in words. These districts have the highest female representation among owners of new buildings, shows the latest data with the government’s economics and statistics department.
An analysis of the department’s ‘Annual Building Statistics’ for five years, from 2015-16 to 2019-20, shows that 34.34% of the new private buildings in Thiruvananthapuram and 34.08% in Idukki were owned by women. About 80% of the new private buildings in the state are residential. Six districts recorded female representation above 30% as against the state average of 27.30%.
The lowest representation was in Kottayam, 21.37%, followed by Malappuram, 21.79%. Female ownership witnessed considerable growth in Idukki over the years -- from 28.86% in 2015-16 to 42.49% in 2019-20. In the case of Thiruvananthapuram, the figure rose from 35.64% to 37.35%. The state average saw a progress in those five years — from 27.08% in 2015-16 to 29.08% in 2019- 20. As per the fifth round of the National Family Health Survey, women owning a house and/or land (alone or jointly with others) is 48.3% in the country and 27.3% in Kerala.
The Annu a l Building Statistics, however, does not have data on land. Also, it does not have a separate category of buildings under joint ownership. Instead, half of the total figure of buildings of joint ownership is added to men and women categories. Male ownership has always been higher in the state. As per the building statistics report 2019-20, the latest of the series, the ratio between female and male ownership saw a slight improvement, 1:2.4 as against the previous year’s 1:2.7. “Nowadays, female ownership is mandatory for applying for the assistance of government housing schemes.
So, this may be an indication of the achievement of the slight progress of gender equality in ownership of buildings being implemented in our state,” the report says. It referred to the PMAY in which women should be coowners of the property for home loans to economically weaker sections and low-income group categories. While acknowledging that property ownership is a favourable condition for empowerment, experts feel mere ownership does not indicate women empowerment.
“Ownership and control are different. We need to know how many of these female owners have actual control over the assets. For that, qualitative ethnographic studies are required,” said J Devika, professor at the Centre for Development Studies. “The growth recorded in Idukki may have different reasons. The additional benefits for female owners for certain loan schemes could be one reason. Also, Idukki is witnessing a considerable increase in the number of young women joining professional courses and securing jobs, especially in the backdrop of the agricultural crisis,” she said.