Significant rise in women workforce participation: Minister Karandlaje

New Delhi: The participation of women in the country's workforce has seen a significant increase over the past six years, Shobha Karandlaje, Union minister of state for labour & employment, said on Thursday.

Responding to a question from Rajya Sabha member of parliament (MP) Sagarika Ghose on women employment, Karandlaje told the upper house that the worker population ratio (WPR), or the percentage of employed people in the population, and labour force participation rate (LFPR) for women aged 15 and above have shown a steady rise, reaching 40.3% and 41.7%, respectively, in 2023-24, up from 22.0% and 23.3% in 2017-18.'

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LFPR is the percentage of persons in labour force, that is those who are working or seeking work or are available for work in the population.

Karandlaje cited the latest periodic labour force survey data for her answer.

"Employment generation coupled with improving employability is the priority of the government. The government has taken various initiatives/measures to promote and increase the participation of women in the workforce," she said in a written response.

Provisions aiding equal opportunity

"The government has incorporated a number of provisions in the labour laws for equal opportunity and congenial work environment for women workers like paid maternity leave, flexible working hours, equal wages etc.," she added.

The government is implementing various schemes to boost both the female labour force participation rate and the overall LFPR, the minister added.

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Apart from the central schemes to enhance the employability of female workers, the government is also providing training to them through a network of women industrial training institutes, national vocational training institutes and regional vocational training institutes, she said, adding as many as five new initiatives were announced in this year's budget to facilitate employment, skilling and other opportunities for 4.1 crore youth over five years with a central outlay of ₹2 trillion.

"The budget also announced setting up of working women hostels in collaboration with industry and establishing creches for the participation of women in the workforce, apart from other policy interventions," she added.

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