Lok Sabha Question No. 1497 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-05
Subject: Schemes for Single Earning Mothers
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: PINAKI MISRA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1497 TO BE ANSWERED ON 5 TH  MARCH, 2018

## SCHEMES FOR SINGLE EARNING MOTHERS

## 1497.   SHRI PINAKI MISRA:

Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) the various schemes being implemented by the Government to enable the single earning mothers to sustain their family;
- (b) whether the Government provides professional/vocational training to such mothers to help them gain economic upliftment and social empowerment; and
- (c) if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  details  of  such  professional courses being imparted to them?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI SANTOSH KUMAR GANGWAR)

(a)  to  (c):  There  is  no  specific  scheme  targeted  at  single  earning  mothers. However,  the  Government  runs  various  employment  generation  schemes  for various beneficiaries like Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP)  run  by  Ministry  of  Micro,  Small  &  Medium  Enterprises,  Mahatma Gandhi  National  Rural  Employment  Guarantee  Scheme  (MGNREGA),  Pt.  Deen Dayal  Upadhyaya  Grameen  Kaushalya  Yojana  (DDU-GKY)  scheme  run  by Ministry  of  Rural  Development  and  Deendayal  Antyodaya  Yojana-  National Urban  Livelihoods  Mission  (DAY-NULM)  run  by  Ministry  of  Housing  &  Urban Poverty Alleviation.

In addition, the government has a network of Industrial Training Institutes and Vocational Training Programmes  under  Ministry of Skill  Development  & Entrepreneurship that offer vocational courses under various trades which can also be availed of by women. Government provides vocational skill training to women for wage and self-employment to help them gain economic upliftment and social employment.

Ministry  of  Skill  Development  &  Entrepreneurship  (MSDE)  has  launched  its flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Yuva Udyamita Vikas Abhiyaan (PM-YUVA) on 9th November, 2016 to impart entrepreneurship education and training.

Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises is already implementing Trade Related Entrepreneurship Development Assistance Development (TREAD) Scheme which envisages economic empowerment of women.

Government has also implemented the National Career Service having a portal for  online  registration  and  posting  of  jobs  for  job-seekers  including  single earning mothers.

The  Ministry  of  Women  and  Child  Development  runs  various  programmes  to promote economic empowerment of women including single earning mothers to sustain their family through policies and programmes cutting across sectors. Important programmes in different areas are:

- (i) Support to Training & Employment Programme for Women (STEP), National Mission  for  Empowerment  of  Women,  Rashtriya  Mahila  Kosh-  (National Credit Fund for Women), Hostel for Working Women, Rajiv Gandhi National Crèche  Scheme  and  Indira  Gandhi  Matritva  Sahyog  Yojana  (IGMSY) Conditional Maternity Benefit (CMB) Scheme.
- (ii) Pradhan MantriMahila Shakti Kendra scheme, promoting community participation through involvement of Student Volunteers for empowerment of rural women.
- (iii) National Creche Scheme to provide day care facilities to children of age group of 6 months to 6 years of working women who are employed.
- (iv) SwadharGreh to provide relief and rehabilitation to destitute women and women in distress.
- (v) Gender Budgeting Scheme  being implemented as a tool for mainstreaming gender perspective at various stages of planning, budgeting, implementation,  impact  assessment  and  revisiting  of  policy/programme objectives and allocations. The Scheme  helps in strengthening of institutional  mechanisms  and  training  of  various  stakeholders  so  as  to mainstream gender concerns in Central and State Governments.

Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) is undertaking Skill development through Rural  Self  Employment  and  Training  Institutes  (RSETI),  thereby  enabling  the trainee to take bank credit and start his/her own Micro-enterprise.

Central  Government  has  taken  some  other  prominent  steps  also  to  increase female labour participation rate which include the enactment of the Maternity Benefit  (Amendment)  Act,  2017  which  provides  for  enhancement  in  paid maternity  leave  from  12  weeks  to  26  weeks  and  provisions  for  mandatory crèche facility in the establishments having 50 or more employees; issue of an advisory  to  the  States  under  the  Factories  Act,  1948  for  permitting  women workers in the night shifts with adequate safety measures. Further, in order to enhance  the  employability  of  female  workers,  the  Government  is  providing training  to  them  through  a  network  of  Women  Industrial  Training  institutes, National  Vocational  Training Institutes  and  Regional  Vocational  Training Institutes. A number of protective provisions have been incorporated in various labour laws for creating congenial work environment for women workers.

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