A Government study says, gender-based disparities in the country have shown a decline over a period of 10 years. Each of the three dimensions namely health, literacy and standard of living that constitute the Gender Development Index reflect an increase over the decade, thereby implying that progress has been made in each of these areas. Similarly, the Gender Empowerment Measure, the parameters for which are political and economic participation also increased. <br/><br/>Kerala has the highest score in the country followed by Chandigarh and Goa. Minister for Women and Child Development Krishna Tirath said though a step has been taken in the right direction, there is a long way to go. <br/><br/>Gender Development Indices can be used as tools to re-allocate resources for programmes and schemes designed to correct gender gaps at all level of governance through monitoring and tracking of progress regularly.