The Economic Survey 2024-25 has proposed to reduce the regulatory compliance burden discouraging women’s participation in factory work, as the top 10 most-populous states impose 139 prohibitions on engaging women in specific processes.
The states justify the prohibitions owing to the dangerous nature of the processes, the Economic Survey stated in Chapter 5, titled ‘Medium Term Outlook: Deregulation Drives Growth’. However, the “inter-State comparison and scientific literature indicate that these prohibitions are enforced without evidence of special health risks to women workers,” it observed.
Pointing to the lack of uniformity in laws, the Economic Survey said some states allow women to participate in abrasive blasting (used to clean metal surfaces), but others prohibit them.
“However, scientific literature indicates that lead is not likely to pose special health risks to women. These prohibitions exclude women from high-paying jobs, making the prohibitions counterproductive,” it stated.
businessline had reported on January 22 that the Union Commerce Ministry has asked all states and Union territories (UTs) to undertake measures under the ‘Reducing Compliance Burden (RCB) Plus’ initiative across 20 central acts and three State acts. States and UTs have to complete the exercise by end-February
The Economic Survey noted that women cite childcare responsibilities as a factor influencing their decision to take up employment. It suggested that the availability of childcare facilities and crèches will go a long way in enhancing female participation in the labour force.
The Centre realises that rising participation of women in entrepreneurship can propel the country towards higher levels of development by tapping into their latent potential to contribute to economic activities.
However, the female labour force participation (FLFPR) rate increased from 23.3 per cent in 2017-18 to 41.7 per cent in 2023-24, the Survey stated. This trend is driven mainly by the rising participation of rural women.
Interestingly, the Survey said that the notable rise in FLFPR is a primary driver of the overall improvement in labour market indicators.
To tap women’s entrepreneurship skills, the government has launched several initiatives in terms of facilitating easier access to credit, marketing support, skill development, support to women start-ups, and so on etc.