Lok Sabha Question No. 1009 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-26
Subject: Gender Gap in Labour Force Participation
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: Raja Amareshwara Naik, Vinod Kumar Sonkar, Bhola Singh, Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo, Sukanta Majumdar, Rajveer (Raju Bhaiya) Singh, Jayanta Kumar Roy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1009 TO BE ANSWERED ON 26 TH  JULY, 2021

## GENDER GAP IN LABOUR FORCE PARTICIPATION

1009. SHRI RAJA AMARESHWARA NAIK:

SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR:

SHRI BHOLA SINGH:

SHRIMATI SANGEETA KUMARI SINGH DEO:

DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR:

SHRI RAJVEER SINGH(RAJU BHAIYA):

DR. JAYANTA KUMAR ROY:

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

- (a) whether there  has  been  gender  gap  in  labour  force  participation  in  the country and if so, the details thereof, Sate-wise including Karnataka;
- (b) whether there has also been gender based income disparity in workforce and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether millions of women lost jobs due to lockdown caused by COVID pandemic and if so, the Government's reaction thereto;
- (d) whether the Government is making efforts to increase the participation of women in the workforce and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the other steps being taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI RAMESWAR TELI)

(a):  As  per  the  results  of  Periodic  Labour  Force  Survey  (PLFS)  conducted  by National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics  and  Programme Implementation  during  2019-20,  the  State/UT-wise  details  of  Labour  Force Participation  Rate(LFPR)  for  the  persons  aged  15  years  and  above  on  usual status( principal status + subsidiary status) basis to the extent available in the country including Karnataka is placed at Annexure.

(b): The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 now subsumed in the Code on Wages, 2019 provides that there shall be no discrimination in an establishment or any unit thereof among employees on the ground of gender in matters relating to wages by the same employer, in respect of the same work or work of similar nature done by any employee. Further, no employer shall make  any discrimination  on  the  ground  of  sex  while  recruiting  any  employee  for  the same work or work of similar nature in the conditions of employment, except where the employment of women in such work is prohibited or restricted by or under any law for the time being in force.

(c) to (e): As per results PLFS, LFPR for women has increased from 24.5% in 2018-19 to 30.0% in 2019-20 and the unemployment rate for women has come down from 5.1% in 2018-19 to 4.2% in 2019-20. Government has taken various steps  for  generating  employment  in  the  country  like  encouraging  various projects involving substantial investment and increasing public expenditure on schemes like  Prime  Minister's  Employment  Generation  Programme  (PMEGP), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Pt. DeenDayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) and Deendayal Antodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM).

Aatmanirbhar  Bharat  Rozgar  Yojna  (ABRY)  Scheme  has  been  launched with effect from 1st October 2020 to incentivize creation of new employment along with social security benefits and restoration of loss of employment. This scheme reduces the financial burden of the employers and encourages them to hire more workers. Under ABRY, Government of India is providing for a period of two years both the employees' share (12% of wages) and employer's share (12%  of wages)  of  contribution payable  or  only  the  employees'  share, depending  on  employment  strength  of  the  EPFO  registered  establishments. The new employees under the scheme include those who lost their jobs during Covid-19  and  didn't  join  in  any  EPF  covered  establishment  upto  30.09.2020. The terminal date for registration of beneficiary under the scheme has been extended  from  30th  June,  2021  to  31st  March,  2022.  As  on  12th  July  2021, total benefit of around Rs.993 crores has been given through 84,390 establishments covering more than 22 lakh beneficiaries including 5.88 lakh women beneficiaries.

Under Pradhan  Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY)  Govt. is incentivising employers for creation of new employment with social security benefits.  Under  the  scheme,  Government  of  India  is  paying  Employer's  full contribution i.e. 12% towards EPF and EPS both (as admissible from time to time)  for  a  period  of  three  years  to  the  new  employees  through  EPFO.  The terminal  date  for  registration  of  beneficiary  through  establishment  was  31st March 2019. The beneficiaries registered upto 31st March, 2019 will continue to  receive  the  benefits  for  3  years  from  the  date  of  registration  under  the scheme.  Under  PMRPY,  as  on  14.06.2021,  benefits  have  been  given  to  1.21 crores beneficiaries including 26.05 lakhs women beneficiaries.

Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) has been initiated by Government inter  alia,  for  facilitating  self-employment.  Under  PMMY  collateral  free  loans upto  Rs.  10  lakh,  are  extended  to  micro/small  business  enterprises  and  to individuals to enable them to setup or expand their business activities. About 70% of the loans have been given to women entrepreneurs.

Government has  increased  MGNREGA  wage to Rs.  202  a  day  from  Rs. 182 to benefit nearly 13.62 crore families. Out of total employment generated (in  person  days)  under  MGNREGS,  women  share  has  increased  from  around 145.35 crore person days in FY 2019-20 to around 207 crore person days in the FY 2020-21.

Government has taken several initiatives to improve women's participation in the labour force. In order to encourage employment of women, a number of protective provisions have been incorporated in the labour laws for  creating  congenial  work  environment  for  women  workers.  These  include enhancement in paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks, provision for mandatory crèche facility in the establishments having 50 or more employees, permitting women workers in the night shifts with adequate safety measures, etc. Government has taken a decision to allow the employment of women in the aboveground mines including opencast workings between 7 pm and 6 am and in below ground working between 6 am and 7 pm in technical, supervisory and managerial work where continuous presence may not be required.

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.

*****

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1009 FOR 26-07-2021 REGARDING GENDER GAP IN LABOUR FORCE PARTICIPATION.

Labour  Force  Participation  Rate  (LFPR)  according  to  usual  principal  status+ subsidiary status (ps+ss) for each State/UT age groups: 15 years and above

## (in percentage)

| Sl.No   | State/UTs                        | rural+ urban(2019-20)   | rural+ urban(2019-20)   | rural+ urban(2019-20)   |
|---------|----------------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|
|         |                                  | Male                    | Female                  | person                  |
| 1 2     | Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh | 78.1 68.8               | 39.2 22.9               | 58.2                    |
| 3       | Assam                            | 77.0                    |                         | 47.5                    |
| 4       | Bihar                            | 73.0                    | 16.4 9.5                | 46.9 41.8               |
| 5       | Chhattisgarh                     | 82.3                    | 53.1                    | 67.6                    |
| 6       | Delhi                            | 73.5                    | 16.1                    | 47.3                    |
| 7       | Goa                              | 75.7                    | 28.2                    | 51.5                    |
| 8       | Gujarat                          | 79.4                    | 31.1                    | 55.9                    |
| 9       | Haryana                          |                         |                         | 45.8                    |
| 10      | Himachal Pradesh                 | 73.7 82.0               | 15.7 65.0               | 73.2                    |
| 11      | Jharkhand                        | 76.9                    |                         |                         |
|         |                                  |                         | 35.7                    | 55.9                    |
| 12 13   | Karnataka Kerala                 | 77.4 71.7               | 33.8 31.9               | 55.5 50.3               |
| 14      | Madhya                           | 80.0                    | 37.7                    |                         |
|         | Pradesh                          |                         |                         | 59.4                    |
| 15      | Maharashtra                      | 75.6                    | 38.7                    | 57.5                    |
| 16      | Manipur                          | 70.9 75.3               | 29.9                    | 50.3                    |
| 17      | Meghalaya                        |                         | 45.7                    | 60.2                    |
| 18      | Mizoram                          | 69.8                    | 37.0 43.0               | 53.8 60.3               |
| 19      | Nagaland                         | 76.0                    | 33.1                    |                         |
| 20      | Odisha                           | 78.3                    |                         | 55.3                    |
| 21      | Punjab                           | 77.2                    | 23.7 38.6               | 51.6                    |
| 22      | Rajasthan                        | 76.2                    |                         | 57.6                    |
| 23      | Sikkim                           | 79.8                    | 59.4                    | 70.4                    |
| 25      | Telangana                        | 75.7                    | 44.3                    | 59.9                    |
| 26      | Tripura                          | 78.1                    | 24.2                    | 51.2                    |
| 27      | Uttarakhand                      | 74.6                    | 31.8                    | 53.4                    |
| 28      | Uttar Pradesh                    | 76.0                    | 17.7                    | 47.1                    |
| 29      | West Bengal                      | 80.0                    | 24.0                    |                         |
|         |                                  |                         |                         | 52.1                    |
| 30 31   | A & N Islands                    | 75.9                    | 35.9 20.4               | 57.0 48.5               |
| 32      | Chandigarh Dadra & Nagar Haveli  | 77.3 89.5               | 52.3                    | 74.4                    |
|         | Daman & Diu                      | 87.9                    | 35.8                    | 66.4                    |
| 33      |                                  |                         |                         |                         |
| 34 35   | Jammu & Kashmir Ladakh           | 74.3 72.8               | 37.4 51.1               | 56.3 62.8               |
| 36      | Lakshadweep                      | 81.2                    | 29.7                    | 55.6                    |
| 37      | Puducherry                       | 71.6                    | 31.6                    | 51.7                    |
|         | All India                        | 76.8                    | 30.0                    | 53.5                    |

Source: Annual report, Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), 2019-20 M/o Statistics and Programme Implementation.