In a major development, the female labour force participation rate (abbreviated as LFPR) has witnessed a drastic improvement in the past 5 years.
According to a report [pdf] published by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), rural female LFPR has increased from 24.6% to 41.5% between 2017-2018 and 2022-2023 at the national level.
This suggests an overall growth of 69% in a span of 5 years. States like Jharkhand, Bihar and Nagaland have witnessed tremendous growth.
Moreover, the urban female labour force participation rate has increased by 25% from 20.4% to 25.4% between 2017-2018 and 2022-2023 at the national level.
Gujarat has witnessed notable growth of 63% while Tamil Nadu has seen a marginal rise in urban female LFPR.
“The general trends show that female LFPR has increased in almost all states, with rural areas seeing larger gains than urban areas,” the report stated.
The report also found a significant rise in female LFPR among married women, especially in States like Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Rajasthan.
It must be mentioned that female LFPR is a key indicator of economic empowerment of women and economic inclusiveness.
Policies of Modi govt are empowering women
According to the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, the policies of the incumbent Modi govt have fuelled the remarkable improvement in female Labour participation rate, especially in rural areas.
“There have been numerous schemes of the Government, especially targeting rural women over the last ten years. These include Mudra loans, the “Drone Didi” scheme and SHGs mobilised under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana to name a few major initiatives for rural women,” the report stated.
“There are many other initiatives that have been aligned with the vision of women-led development across India,” it further added.
