The welfare of both women and men constitutes the human welfare. At the turn of the century
amidst the glory of unprecedented growth in national income, India is experiencing the spread of
rural distress. It is mainly due to the collapse of agricultural economy. Structural adjustments and
competition from large-scale enterprises result in loss of rural livelihoods. Poor delivery of public
services and safety nets, deepen the distress. The adverse impact is more on women than on men.
This review examines the adverse impact of the events in terms of endowments, livelihood
opportunities and nutritional outcomes on women in detail with the help of chosen indicators at two
time-periods roughly representing mid nineties and early 2000. The gender equality index computed
and the major indicators of welfare show that the gender gap is increasing in many aspects. All the
aspects of livelihoods, such as literacy, unemployment and wages now have larger gender gaps than
before. Survival indicators such as juvenile sex ratio, infant mortality, child labour have deteriorated
for women, compared to men, though there has been a narrowing of gender gaps in life expectancy
and literacy. The overall gender gap has widened due to larger gaps in some indicators, which are
not compensated by the smaller narrowing in other indicators both in the rural and urban context.