BHUBANESWAR: Women’s participation in decision-making in Odisha presents an interesting picture. At the grassroots and in the households, their strong participation is discerning. However, in formal institutions and high-level leadership roles, their representation leaves quite a bit of room, according to the recently released Women and Men in India-2025 report.
Odisha has a modest presence of women in terms of political representation. Women account for 19 per cent of the state’s MPs, four out of 21 seats, but much above the national average of 13.65 per cent. In the state Assembly though, it is just seven per cent. Eleven out of 147 MLAs are women.
However, in local governance, women’s representation is significantly stronger, with over 53 pc women in panchayati raj institutions. Out of the 1,06,353 elected representatives in PRIs, 57,001 are women, thanks to the state’s leadership in reservation at the grassroots decision-making.
In household decisions, at least 90.2 pc women in the state take part and the number is marginally higher for rural women at 90.3 per cent against 89.9 per cent for cities and towns. Women’s participation in household decision-making has jumped from 81.8 per cent in NFHS-4 to 90.2 per cent in NFHS-5.
In exercising voting rights, women have displayed strong presence. In 2024 general elections, 75.56 per cent women turned out to vote against the total turnout of 74.78 per cent.
The divergence comes when the institutional set-up comes. The share of women in state’s police force is 11.62 per cent. Just 6,828 are women in the total workforce of 58,752 which includes civil, district armed reserve and armed and India Reserve Battalions. Many large states have higher women representation in the police force. The national average is 12.60 per cent.
In the judiciary, women constitute just 14.3 per cent of judges across Supreme Court and High Courts. In Odisha, women make up only five per cent of High Court judges.
In corporate space, there has been a gradual shift upwards. Odisha has 1,727 startups of which 340 had at least one woman director. From 40 in 2017 to 340 in 2025, it has been a story of women taking up leadership roles. There are 3,56,222 women-owned MSMEs registered in the state, the report says. These enterprises employ 27,89,753 personnel.
Women’s share
Politics: MPs - 19%; MLAs - 7%
Rural governance: 53%
Household decision-making:
Rural - 90.3%; Urban - 89.9%
Police force: 11.62%
Judiciary: Orissa HC - 5%
Women-led MSMEs: 3.56 lakh
