In view of the BCCI recently announcing a ‘pay equity policy’, discuss the challenges faced by women athletes and the possible ways to make professional sports more inclusive.

In a welcome step towards removing discrimination on the basis of gender, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced a “pay equity policy”, according to which the centrally contracted women players will get the same match fees as their male counterparts.

Pay Equity Policy:

• The decision was taken during the BCCI apex council meeting.
• According to the policy, the women cricketers will now be paid Rs.15 lakh for each test match, Rs.6 lakh for an ODI and Rs.3 lakh for T20 international.
• The yearly retention amount for women cricketers remains the same at Rs.50 lakh for grade A, Rs.30 lakh for grade B and Rs.10 lakh for grade C. Whereas the men get paid Rs.1-7 crore depending on their grade.
• India has become the second country after New Zealand to have pay parity in international cricket.
• It is a step towards gender equality and will motivate the women players.

Challenges faced by women athletes:

• Androcentric nature of the sports.
• Due to various social stigmas, the women played sports much later.
• Less viewership and fanbase of women athletes makes them of ‘lower entertainment’ value, which means less revenue is generated from women sports. This in turn becomes a big reason for lower pay.
• Representation of women in sports governance bodies like the BCCI is poor.

Way forward:

India is ranked poor in the Global Gender Gap Index. The ranking of India in Economic Participation and Opportunity is also poor. The government needs to push women by affirmative action, for equal participation in all aspects of life, including sports.