Lok Sabha Question No. 4146 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-20
Subject: Women's Participation in the Workforce
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Baijayant Panda

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4146

TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.12.2024

## WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION IN THE WORKFORCE

## 4146.  SHRI BAIJAYANT PANDA

Will the Minister of Women and Child Development be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has any specific targets to improve gender equality as reflected in the Gender Inequality Index (GII), if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the  details  of  the  specific  initiatives  implemented  by  the  Government  to encourage  women  to  pursue  advanced  degrees  and  join  the  organised workforce; and
- (c) the details of the steps taken by the Government to overcome the barriers that limit women's participation in higher education and employment?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SAVITRI THAKUR)

(a)  to  (c) The  Gender  Inequality  Index  (GII)  is  released  as  a  part  of  Human Development Report (HDR), which is published by the United Nations Development Programme. GII is calculated on the basis of indicators, viz., Maternal Mortality Ratio, Adolescent Birth Rate, Women's share of seats in parliament, Population with at least some secondary education, and Labour force participation rate. The Government of India has been working in collaboration with all State/UTs and different stakeholders to enhance the accessibility and quality of healthcare services for pregnant women and young children through various initiatives/schemes like Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY),  Janani  Shishu Suraksha  Karyakram (JSSK), Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN), Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), Labour room Quality Improvement initiatives (LaQshya) etc. HDR 2023-24 has ranked India at 108 out of 193 countries in GII 2022. In GII 2021, India was ranked at 122 out of 191 countries.

Government of India has given utmost priority to reduce disparity between men and women and by encouraging women to pursue higher education and join workforce. Some  major  initiatives  taken  by  the  Government  for  improving  economic  and educational empowerment of women to promote gender equality and to overcome barriers that limit women's participation in higher education and join the organized workforce are follows:

- Under  the  scheme 'Women  in  Science  and  Engineering-KIRAN  (WISEKIRAN)' , the Department of Science and Technology (DST) is creating various

opportunities to support women in Science & Technology fields through several programmes.

- The CURIE  (Consolidation  of  University  Research  for  Innovation  and Excellence)  Programme is  developing  research  infrastructure  in  women universities and Women PG Colleges.
- Vigyan Jyoti was launched in 2020 to balance low representation of girls in different  streams  of  Science  and  Technology  from  9 th   to  12 th   standards benefiting over 80,000 girl students.
- Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions (GATI) (2020) initiative encourages transformational changes at institutional level towards achieving Gender Equality in the STEM area. In its pilot phase, 30 scientific institutions are working under GATI pilot towards achieving Gender Equality in STEM.
- Women Technology  Parks  (2017-18) have  been  established  as  resource centers where all necessary support is made available to women on Science & Technology based training, capacity building in various technologies.
- WISE Fellowship for Ph.D. (WISE-PhD) and WISE Post-Doctoral Fellowship (WISE-PDF) to  carry  out  research  in  Basic  and  Applied  Sciences, WISESCOPE to encourage women scientists to utilize their scientific knowledge for benefit of society, WIDUSHI programme to support senior women scientists and WISE-IPR programme  for  creating  self-employment  opportunities  have also been started.
- SERB  POWER  Scheme , Science  and  Engineering  Research  Board (SERB)'s Promoting Opportunities for Women in Exploratory Research (POWER) , designed exclusively for women scientists, launched in 2020, has funded 97 projects in Research grant, of which 42 Fellowships given to women.
- The 'Development  of  Women's  Studies  in  Indian  Universities  and Colleges' scheme  by  UGC  provides  funds  for  setting  up  Women  Studies Centers (WSCs) in universities and colleges, focusing on teaching, research, curriculum development, trainings and outreach activities.
- Synergising the School Education and Higher Education, the IIT-Madras has undertaken 'Vidya Shakti' scheme which aims at enhancing conceptual and foundational learning skills of children from rural areas to enhance enrolment (including women) in STEM branches in Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs).
- Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) has been initiated by Government, inter alia, for facilitation of self-employment. Under PMMY, collateral free loans upto  Rs.  20  lakh  are  extended  to  micro/small  business  enterprises  and  to individuals to enable them to setup or expand their business activities. Majority of the beneficiaries under this yojana are women.
- Stand Up India scheme promotes entrepreneurship amongst women, SC and ST categories, i.e., those sections of the population understood to be facing significant hurdles due to lack of advice/ mentorship as well as inadequate and delayed credit. 84% of the loans sized Rs 10 lakh to Rs. 1 crore were made available to women.
- The Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (PM-USHA) ,  a  Centrally Sponsored Scheme by Ministry of Education caters to needs of educationally unserved/ underserved areas and aimed at funding specific State government universities and colleges, including in the rural areas, so as to improve their quality by ensuring their conformity to prescribed norms and standards.
- The Overseas Fellowship Scheme started in 2017-18, provides opportunities to Indian Women to undertake international collaborative research in areas of their choice.
- The Skill  India  Mission aligned  to  the  National  Skill  Development  Policy, designed  with  special  focus  on  skilling  of  disadvantaged  groups,  Women, Transgender and Persons with Disabilities (PwDs).
- Labour laws have specific provisions relating to women workers besides all other rights. The Maternity Benefit Act, as amended in 2017 , has enhanced paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for two surviving children. It also has enabled provision of 'Work from Home', after availing of the maternity benefit by the woman, where the nature of work being assigned of such nature, for such period and on such conditions mutually agreed upon by the employer and the woman employee.
- The Government has also enacted the four Labour Codes, namely the Code on Wages 2019; the Industrial Relations Code 2020; the Code on Social Security 2020, and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code 2020 ,  which inter  alia ,  promote  participation  of  women  in workforce in a dignified manner through a number of provisions; such as no discrimination on the ground of gender in matters relating to wages, recruitment and in the conditions of employment; Women are entitled to be employed in all establishments for all types of work even before 6 AM and beyond 7 PM subject to their consent and other adequate safety measures.
- Sakhi Niwas (Working Women's Hostel) scheme provides safe and affordable housing  for  working  women  and  thereby  encourages  more  women  to  seek employment.
- Palna ,  the  National  Crèche  Scheme,  ensures  that  women  take  up  gainful employment through providing a safe, secure and stimulating environment to the children.
- Hubs for Empowerment of Women (HEW) at National, State and District level have been approved under Mission Shakti. The support under HEW is available for  guiding,  linking  and  hand  holding  women  to  various  institutional  and schematic  set-up  for  their  empowerment  and  development  including  equal access to healthcare, quality education, career and vocational counselling/training, financial inclusion, entrepreneurship, backward and forward  linkages,  health  and  safety  for  workers,  social  security  and  digital literacy at various levels across the country.

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