A
Study to Encourage the Women for Employment in India through Self Employment
Subroto
Kumar Ghosh, Research
Scholar
University
Department of Commerce & Business Management, Ranchi University, Ranchi.
Mobile: +91
97714 73885, Email: ghosh.com@gmail.com
Dr. Dilip Kumar Sahu, Assistant Professor,
Department of Commerce, J. N. College, Dhurwa, Ranchi.
Abstract
Public support of self-employment has a
long tradition in India. Indian women are almost 50% of the Indian population
and they directly as well as indirectly contribute to the economic parameters
of the nation. Since ages most of their economic contributions have not been
accounted and their humble services have been taken for granted. It’s high time
to recognize the role of women fraternity in the growth of an economy and take
necessary steps to involve the rural uneducated females in the growth process
simultaneously along with the urban uneducated as well as educated females.
Generally it has been observed that
females are more involved into small scale business activities as
entrepreneurs. Government has come up with several sachems to enhance the role
and contribution of women.
The day is not far when India too could have its own self
employed millionaires born on the digital platforms. Digital platforms
in the early days provided connects between the employment providers and
employment seekers. On 16th Jan 2016, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi
announced bunch of benefits and schemes to promote start-up ecosystem in
India. The event was called “ Startup
India, Stand up India”.
This paper will look into various growth
prospects financial empowerment of women and highlight the major issues that
hinder these growth processes. The basic objectives of the paper have been
mentioned below.
1. Overview of the currently
self-employed and wage- employed women.
2. Financial issues and other major
problems faced by women entrepreneurs
3. Government schemes to empower women
through skill formation, financial assistance, education etc.
4. Growth trends in women employment in
recent years.
5. Impact of women employment on
economic parameters for Indian economy.
Keywords: Empowerment, Employment, Equity, Growth,
Economy.
1. Introduction
The early Vedic period
suggests that Indian women enjoyed the status of equality with men in terms of
social freedom, education and other rights. But with time their condition
detoriated as we started living in a male chauvinistic society. In the present social and economic environment women are not
treated on equal parameters with the males regarding issues like having
authority in the family, property rights, employment opportunities, social and
security aspects. Females face different kinds of exploitation in Indian
economy and the panacea to all female exploitation is women empowerment in
terms of financial status. A strong patriarchal
society with deep-rooted socio-culture values continues to affect gender equity
and women’s empowerment. With time Indian women
have evolved under the British rule as well as in the independent economy due
to various cultural and economic exposures. Now they
participate fully in areas such as education, sports, politics, media, art and
culture, service sectors, science and technology, etc.
2. Overview of the Currently
Self-employed and Wage-employed Women
Education and employment are the two basic tools which can change the
economic and social status of females in the near future as well as over a long
time. Further women empowerment is the utmost requirement for the inclusive
growth and development of a nation like India which is emerging over time and
accounts for 614.4 million female population (1.27 billion total populations). According
to the 2011 census female literacy rate happens to be 65.56% as compared to
male literacy of 82.14%. If we consider the next major issue which can lead to
female empowerment then disguised employment underpayment of remuneration is
quite visible. Contrary to common perception, a large percentage of women in
India work. National data collection agencies accept that statistics seriously
understate women's contribution as workers. However, there are far fewer women
than men in the paid workforce. In urban India, women participate in the
workforce in impressive numbers. i According to the ILO’s Global Employment Trends 2013 report,
India’s labor force participation rate for women fell from just over 37 per
cent in 2004-05 to 29 per cent in 2009-10. Out of 131 countries with available
data, India ranks 11th from the bottom in female
labor force participation. ii
Also according to the International Labor Organization, India ranks in the
bottom 20 of a list of 131 counties in female labor force participation.
"Senior level female employees in India are just 5 per cent compared to
the global average of 20 per cent," In India almost 48 per cent women drop
out of workforce before they reach the middle of their careers, compared to the
Asia regional average of 29 per cent."
iii In the area of women’s
entrepreneurship, and although government policies and promotion strategies
have been giving new opportunities to women, few have come forward. According
to the same MSME Annual Report 2011-12, only 13.72 per cent of enterprises
in the registered MSME sector were enterprises managed by women. It is Women
Empowerment through Employment Opportunities in India 95 primarily since
the last two decades that attempts to design programmes to promote women
entrepreneurs as a part of national development plans have begun to be taken notice
of by women.
If we consider women employment in
general than Indian women lack behind when compared to south Asian countries or
even the BRICS. Female employment in India grew by 9 million between 1994 and
2010, but the ILO estimates that it could have increased by almost double that
Fig. if women had equal access to employment in the same industries and
occupations as their male counterparts. As per Census of Central Government
Employees, in 2001, the female employment in Central Government is 2.92 lakhs
which is only 7.53 % of the total employment in Central Government. As per
Census 2001, at all India level, 10.35 % households are female headed and the
average size of female headed households is 4.00 whereas the average household
size for male headed households is 5.4.further the knowledge economy has certainly
created a large number of never before opportunities for women particularly in
the service sector. Today one can see a women entrepreneurs in almost every
field, be it ICT, retails, service sector, health-care, insurance, tourism, education
and even international trade. In our day to day life we meet many management
and techno-savvy women professionals who are eager to plunge into the world of
business.
Over time, the share of the
self-employed has been rising among women. Large sections of women are
self-employed in both rural and urban areas, with their share being higher in
the villages (close to 64 per cent of women workers).Women are more inclined
towards achieving economic independence and as there is limited number of opportunities
in the male dominated society, they look for small business organizations. It
is the need of the hour to support such women so that economic potentiality of
the fair sex increases which will help in the overall growth. iv Recent statistics
show that as per Census 2011, the work participation rate for women is 25.51 percent
as compared to 25.63 per cent in 2001. The Work Participation Rate of Women has
reduced marginally in 2011 but there is an improvement from 22.27 per cent in
1991 and 19.67 per cent in 1981. The work participation rate for women in rural
areas is 30.02 per cent as compared to 15.44 per cent in the urban areas. In so
far as the organized sector is concerned, in March, 2011 women workers
constituted 20.5 percent of total employment in organized sector in the country
which is higher by 0.1 percent as compared to the preceding year. As per the
last Employment Review by Directorate General of Employment & Training
(DGE&T), on 31st March, 2011, about 59.54 lakh women workers were employed
in the organized sector (Public and Private Sector). Of this, nearly 32.14 lakh
women were employed in community, social and personal service sector.
3. Financial Issues and other Major
Problems Faced by Women Entrepreneurs
Women in India and even other countries
face gender biasness and at times working in government or private
organizations lead to many types of exploitations like low wage rates as
compared to their male counterparts, sexual harassment, family pressure etc. Self-employed
women or upcoming female entrepreneurs are free from few of the above mentioned
problems. The government is also trying to tap the skills of these ambitious
females by providing them the required support. But the fact remains that females
face immense problems in rural as well as urban areas to start a business.
Developed countries like Britain and
Canada show that females own one third of the business in the society and they
enjoy much more freedom as compared to females in emerging economies.
Gender budgeting at the government’s end
and family support on the personal front is a must for females in a patriarchal
society like India. Given these conditions, the basic problems still jolting on
women entrepreneurship are the following:
v Stiff
competition from male establishments.
v Shortage
of raw materials
v Family
conflicts
v Legal
awareness
v Low
risk taking ability
v Limited
financial capacity
v Requirement
of Entrepreneurial training
Apart from these basic problems,
availability of finance and credit facilities for females is a big issue.
Generally banks or other credit lending institutions fail to recognize women
entrepreneurial aptitude and do not want to take a chance by providing them
financial assistance. Hence the role of the government becomes very important.
In 1981 it was found that the government
was assisting the women for entrepreneurship development by providing financial
assistance in the form of term loans, interest, subsidy, unsecured loans and
concession in the form of subsidies in the capital, self employment loan etc.
Kumar (1998) reported from Bangalore that Canara Bank’s Centre for
Entrepreneurship Development gives training to women and helps them to set
up small industrial units besides providing assistance for marketing their
product.
The assistance by the government to
women entrepreneurship has been provided through various institutions like SIDO,
DIC, EDI, NAYE, NISIET, SIDBI, SEF, WCFC and commercial banks etc. In an
earlier research (Bindiya 2001) undertook a study on Women and Agriculture. He
found that the Regional Rural Banks are playing an important role in empowerment
of rural women through various credit schemes for entrepreneurship development.
Various financial institutions have special financial schemes for women entrepreneurship
development. These include KVIC, NABARD, Cooperative Societies and Regional
Rural Banks. They provide loan opportunities to rural women entrepreneur
for dairying, poultry, bee keeping, food processing and preservation, mushroom
cultivation, spices process, potato chips, dairy and other cottage industries.
Still In various studies it was reported
that more than 70% of the problems faced by the women entrepreneurs are related
with credit. With a view to encourage women in setting up their own ventures,
Government launched a Scheme, namely, “Trade Related Entrepreneurship
Assistance and Development (TREAD) during the 11th Plan. Even in
the early years of independence schemes like community development programs,
Mahila mandals etc where set up for the growth of women entrepreneurs. Further
are the details of ministry of labor.
4. Government Schemes to Empower Women
through skill Formation, Financial Assistance, Education etc.
Development of women has been a policy
objective of the government since independence. Until the 70s the concept of
women‘s development was mainly welfare oriented. In 1970s, there was a shift
from welfare approach to development approach that recognized the mutually
reinforcing nature of the process of development. v In the 80s a
multi-disciplinary approach was adopted with an emphasis on three core areas of
health, education and employment. Women were given priorities in all the
sectors including SSI sector. Government and non government bodies have paid
increasing attention to women‘s economic contribution through self employment
and industrial ventures.
Further the government has come up with
many schemes from time to time to educate females. To name a few:Mahila
Samakhya Programme, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Scheme (KGBV), and National
Programme for Education of Girls at Elementary Level (NPEGEL). Also a Nirbhaya
scheme was started in the union budget in 2013 to support initiatives by
the government and NGOs working towards protecting the dignity and ensuring
safety of women in India.
Though the government has come up with
many schemes for social welfare of the weaker sex, the end result has been
depressing because the implementation process is either very slow or graft and
nepotism is very prevalent in the economy. Government should take special care
to implement the policies with honesty and on time so that the growth process
of the nation speeds up. Along with it the private sector should also take the
initiative in assisting women skill formation. And finally well educated,
financially sound and resource full women should take necessary steps to help
uneducated and poor women in attaining education as well as vocational
trainings for required skill formation which open up employment opportunities
for the needful.
There are such NGOs, training centers
and government schemes which aid urban as well as rural females. Few recent
initiatives need mention e.g., Federation of Indian Women Entrepreneurs (FIWE),
a National-level organization, founded in 1993 and registered under Society Act
of India in May 1999, is today, one of India’s Premier Institution for Women
thoroughly devoted towards Entrepreneurship Development in the country. It has
branches in different states of India with membership base of 15,000 individual
members /professionals and more than 28 Member Associations spread throughout
the country. Another such example is Shri Mahila SEWA Sahakari Bank; a separate
bank of poor, self-employed, women workers was established at the initiative of
4,000 self-employed women workers with a capital of Rs 60,000 in 1974.
So government and the private
organizations have been aware about women welfare but the process needs to pick
up the momentum.
5. Growth Trends in Women Employment in
Recent Years
The ministry of labor and employment has
published few facts regarding growth trends in women employment. Women form an
integral part of the Indian workforce. According to the information provided by
the office of Registrar General & Census Commissioner of India, As per
Census 2011, the total number of female workers in India is 149.8 million and
female workers in rural and urban areas are 121.8 and 28.0 million
respectively. Out of total 149.8 million female workers, 35.9 million females
are working as cultivators and another 61.5 million are agricultural laborers.
Of the remaining females workers, 8.5 million are in household Industry and
43.7 million are classified as other workers.
vi According to one study few facts are
worth mentioning:
Ø The
workforce participation rate of females in rural sector was 26.1 in 2009-10
(NSS 64th Round) while that for males was 54.7. In Urban sector, it was 13.8
for females and 54.3 for males.
Ø Among
the States/Union Territories, workforce participation rate of females in the
rural sector was the highest in Himachal Pradesh at 46.8% and in the urban
sector it was the highest in Mizoram at 28.8%.
Ø In
the rural sector, 55.7% females were self-employed, 4.4% females had regular
wage/salaried employment and 39.9% females were casual laborers compared with
53.5%, 8.5% and 38.0% males in the same categories respectively.
Ø A
total of 20.4% women were employed in the organized sector in 2010 with 17.9%
working in the public sector and 24.5% in the private.
Ø The
labor force participation rate of women across all age-groups was 20.8 in rural
sector and 12.8 in urban sector compared with 54.8 and 55.6 for men in the
rural and urban sectors respectively in 2009-10 (NSS 64th Round).
6. Impact of Women Employment on
Economic Parameters for Indian economy
India is an emerging economy with eye
catching demographic dividend within its reach. As the economy has to compete
with developed south Asian countries as well as western economies, full
utilization of the available limited raw material as well as manpower resources
is the only way to grow faster and capture international markets. Indian women
have proved their mettle in large as well as small industries. Few big names
are Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Ila Bhatt, Indra Nooyiand Chanda Kochar. An eye opener
is the fact that under SEWA some 60000 poor women could create assets worth Rs.
200 million (6.6 million U.S.$).Therefore women literacy and women employment
will add to the gross domestic product of the nation and raise the per capita
income of the country also. With rising incomes and education there is a profound
impact on consumption. The rates of growth of several discretionary categories
are nothing short of dramatic as a result. Female consumers have impacted the
market structure. The rural as well as urban women have shown interest in
having financial status in the family. So with the increase in population and
female awareness, the growth prospects of a nation will also change leading to
development in the long term. Indian women are moving towards achieving high
growth targets along with their male counterparts and adequate assistance will
embrace a bright future in rural and urban areas.
7. Conclusion
Despite significant problems in a male
dominated society, Indian women have found their way out for growth and
empowerment either through self-help groups, NGOs, banks, government
assistance, and micro finance institutions or through private sectors. In the
coming years the role of women will be of immense importance for competing with
the developed world as they are man power source as well as diverse consumer
group. The civilization of the country will undergo a noteworthy positive
change with educated and financially sound women folk. Given that one-third of
the estimated 480 million jobs in the country are being performed by women,
more than half of the advertising is targeted towards the homemaker.
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