Came across great sets of data maintained by the World Bank, and there are revelations strewn about. Found this one to be interesting:
The Female Labor Participation rate (defined as "the proportion of the population ages 15 and older that is economically active") seems to be dropping for India in the last few years. Look how poorly we do when compared to Bangladesh! This ILO article (ILO happens to be the source of this data) cites increased competition from men, bad monsoons,discrimination, and the global economic crisis as reasons for the drop in India, but doesn't explain why this curve in Pakistan has a healthier trend (despite school girls getting shot in the face!). The article also claims that women in wealthier households tend to have lower participation, which also seems counter-intuitive. Whatever the reason, seems like a serious glitch in the Bharat Nirman narrative.
