"I always wanted to work, but my father wanted me to get married," says fifty-five years old Sangeeta Verma.

Sangeeta was married into a wealthy family; therefore her father-in-law did not give her permission to work. "It has been about thirty years since I got married and this has been the regret I live with every day."

In a small circle in Janpath, in the heart of Delhi, we spoke to some women to know what they thought of equality. All of them echoed the same sentiment. They all felt restricted in some way or the other by the family and the society. 

Ayesha Khanna is in her last year of an MBA program, but the pressure to marry is already building up. "My parents want me to get married soon after I finish my studies. I think it is unfair. I want to think about my career, but since childhood, I have been told that I have to take care of my family.  My husband and my career should be last on my priority list," Khanna said. 

The dual burden of household chores and work responsibilities is one of the reasons why many women in India opt out of jobs. Last year India fell by 21 positions in the global gender gap report released by the World Economic Forum. 

Data shows that participation of women in the workforce has dropped to 27 percent. Anju Pandey of UN Women expresses her concern over this trend, "the drop in the participation of women is worrisome, and we want it to be reversed. Another issue which we all have been talking about is the issue of ending violence against women and providing them safety at the workplace."

India is left behind in terms of rights of women in other sectors as well, including health and education. When looking at the education sector, there is positive news that the gender gap in enrolment in primary and tertiary education has been reduced. The dropout rate of girls is high, showing nearly 40 percent of them drop out in their teens. 

"School facilities and good-quality education has to be available, and they should be closer to the homes of teenagers. Parents are concerned for the safety of their girls, so they do not want to send their daughters far away from home for education," says Indu Agnihotri, "many times the elder daughters stop going to school and they have to take care of the household. There is enough evidence in the past that shows how lack of toilets and sanitation keeps the adolescents away."

In India, the exclusion of women starts from the womb. Sex-selective abortions are still prevalent despite stringent laws. The skewed sex ratio results in more violence against women. The widespread patriarchy is the basis of all problems. Even though the government has started schemes to create awareness about the welfare and empowerment of girls but still the hazardous environment forces women to stay at home. 

India needs to rethink and act on the increasing fractures between men and women. Experts believe that the forced exclusion of women primarily from the economy needs to be addressed urgently, as it would have its repercussions on the society as a whole.

Pandey of UN Women says, "We have no time to wait to reverse these trends."