The McKinsey Global Institute estimates that by 2025, women in India could contribute $700 billion to the economy if they had equal opportunities for work.
Despite the desire and ability of women in India, they have been barred from working in many fields. According to the World Bank, due to this the participation of Indian women in the formal economy is the lowest and opportunities are being taken away from them.
According to the Periodic Labor Force Survey (PLFS) 2020, only 18.6% of working age women in India participate in the labor force, which is three times less than that of men. Although as the economy has grown, the educational status of women has increased, the fertility rate has decreased, but women are not participating in the formal economy. In fact their participation is declining.
Where are the women behind?
The Economic Survey 2018 shows that Indian women generally work in highly insecure jobs where they are paid low wages. A gender gap was found in the average income of full-time employees in India in 2015.
According to a 2018 report by the International Labor Organization, 88 percent of women are working in industries while 71 percent of women are employed in the service sector. According to a media report, despite performing better at work, the status of women does not increase.
What explains the gender gap in the labor force?
According to a report published in Mint, studies show that family income, marriage, child care, public safety and political disability affect women’s economic participation. But of all these factors, gender discrimination is the least studied.
TRIS, a regulatory research and policy advisory company, has created an index comparing 23 states with 48 Acts, 169 rules and 20 notifications/orders to see the economic freedom enjoyed by women. The index clearly reveals the status of discrimination against women.
According to this, if Indian women participate in the labor market at the same level as men, then more than 200 million additional women workers can be found. The McKinsey Global Institute estimates that by 2025, women in India could contribute $700 billion to the economy if they had equal opportunities for work.
Where is the discrimination against women?
According to the report, women in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Goa have got the greatest freedom to choose work. While Odisha, Meghalaya, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal have the most restrictions.
The state employs women in hard work and at least in factories at night. Night shift working is a legal subject and state rules relating to the Factories Act, 1948 have the most restrictions on it.
In many states, women are prohibited from working as contract and migrant workers in factories, commercial establishments and plantations. These restrictions have been imposed with the intention of protecting women, protecting them from exploitation.
Where are you allowed to work in night shift?
According to the report, World Bank researchers show that allowing women to work at night is positively related to women’s chances of being on top. Women in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh have the most freedom to work at night in various establishments, while Odisha and Telangana have stricter restrictions.
Whereas in not a single state women have the freedom to work at night in factories. Industries have got some exemption under eight special conditions. For example, some states allow it for tasks such as packing fish food, although the link between the night shift and food spoilage is unclear.
Knocked the door of the court for approval of work at night
Several petitioners have approached the courts against this special provision of the Factories Act prohibiting working in night shifts. Vasantha R, a textile mill worker in Tamil Nadu, was not being allowed to work night shifts despite her wishes. She had reached the Madras High Court against this policy of the state.
No work opportunities in jobs considered dangerous
After the Industrial Revolution, certain types of jobs were banned for women to protect them from unsafe working conditions. The Bombay Factory Commission and the Factory Labor Commission passed the first Factories Act in India in 1881.
Women’s work with moving machines was considered a risky job with a higher chance of accidents. Even with the advent of safer machines, the prejudice against women continued.
Many states have barred women from working in many jobs in factories, commercial establishments and plantations. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are the only two states that allow women to work in all processes in all establishments.
The employment of women in hazardous jobs in Madhya Pradesh is the most banned. It is the only state that prohibits women from working in hazardous processes, both in factories and commercial establishments.
According to the statement of historian and professor of history at the University of Cambridge, Samita Sen, through such restrictions, employers have kept machines for work and in doing so have turned women workers away.
Restrictions on jobs considered difficult
Women are systematically excluded from jobs citing physical limitations. According to the World Bank, restrictions such as lifting for women workers are in place in 46 countries.
Women are prohibited from lifting heavy goods in 22 states of the country. In Bihar and Jharkhand, women are given maximum freedom to work in the tough jobs. In some states there is no restriction for men to lift weights, but there is for women. According to the report, weight restrictions may have been enacted to maintain the health and safety of women in the workplace, but such rules also make it so that all women, regardless of individual ability or desire, are bound in shackles.
Prohibition of committing morally inappropriate acts
Excise Acts of most states keep women out of the center of sale and purchase of liquor with a special protection approach, to “protect women from drug addiction and avoid the possibility of sexual offences,” the report said.
Women in Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu enjoy the most freedom to work in licensed liquor establishments. While Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Odisha, Punjab, Uttarakhand and West Bengal have the most restrictions.
Evidently, these restrictions are imposed to maintain public health, public order and morality. But women working in this sector and establishments oppose it. Even the Supreme Court has considered these stereotypes to be outdated.
Expansion
Despite the desire and ability of women in India, they have been barred from working in many fields. According to the World Bank, due to this the participation of Indian women in the formal economy is the lowest and opportunities are being taken away from them.
According to the Periodic Labor Force Survey (PLFS) 2020, only 18.6% of working age women in India participate in the labor force, which is three times less than that of men. Although as the economy has grown, the educational status of women has increased, the fertility rate has decreased, but women are not participating in the formal economy. In fact their participation is declining.
Where are the women behind?
The Economic Survey 2018 shows that Indian women generally work in highly insecure jobs where they are paid low wages. A gender gap was found in the average income of full-time employees in India in 2015.
According to a 2018 report by the International Labor Organization, 88 percent of women are working in industries while 71 percent of women are employed in the service sector. According to a media report, despite performing better at work, the status of women does not increase.