Making an atmanirbhar Bharat that is inclusive
- Trishika Srivastava
- Aug 23, 2020
- 5 min read
Updated: Dec 1, 2024
A screenshot of the Atmanirbhar Bharat webinar series
The World Bank reports that Female Labor Force Participation (FLFP) in India for the year 2019, stood at around 21% . This means that out of every 10 women in India, aged 15 and above, only 2.1 were either looking for work or were employed. With respect to FLFP India stands below Afghanistan (22%), Pakistan (22 %), Nepal (83%), south Asia (23%) and the world (47%). In fact, there are only about 9 countries in the world that have performed worse than India with respect to FLFP. According to the World Bank, female labour force participation in the country has been dipping since 2005, after reaching an all-time high of around 32 % in the same year.
An over simplified explanation of the trend would be that the number of females qualifying for the denominator (ie. all working age women) has increased exponentially while the number of women making to the numerator (working age women engaging actively in the labour market) has remained more or less stable. In simpler parlance, this would imply that although the FLFP has fallen, the absolute number of women working or seeking employment has remained more or less consistent and stable. This argument, if valid, would call for an investigation into the reasons that prevented and prevent women from seeking and taking up jobs since 2005.
If we juxtapose India’s GDP growth rate numbers on India’s FLFP rate, we will find that the point at which our national FLFP started dipping was also the point when India was growing at a rate of around 8%. This means that though the FLFP showed a downward trend there were more jobs being created. Equally important is the fact that the early years of this century constituted the time that marked the beginning of the much popular transition in the Indian economy, from being dependent upon agriculture to being driven by the service sector. A possible explanation that we can draw from these points is that over the last couple of decades, the very nature of work has transformed. It has transformed to exclude women. Thus, while women might have desired to work and while new jobs were being created in the economy, they neither had the skills to get these new jobs nor were they encouraged to acquire the same. As a result our female labour force remained restricted to the few older domains of work, which were also the ones that did not require higher technical skills, and which have seen a decline due to the transformation of our economy.
Another explanation of the FLFP trend in India can be found in the popular Marxist idea of the ‘reserve army of labour’. Marx stated that women and children form the reserve army of labor which, under the capitalist system, is trained to supplement/complement the principal army of labor (men) in desperate times like war. This idea has been quite popular among feminists who use it to explain and to expose gender based differentials in work and at work place. Using the same argument, it won’t be entirely wrong to hypothesize that the reserve army of labour (female) was naturally pulled out of the labor force once the Indian economy stabilized in the early 21st century.
India (and the world) is working on a response to the economic devastation caused by the COVID 19 pandemic. As much as 10 % of India’s GDP has already been pledged for a mountain of nationwide reforms. Much is being said and done with respect to infrastructure, production, agriculture, defence etc. However, one word that seems to be missing in all conversations around reviving the economy is ‘woman’. India’s poor FLFP rate is more than a national humiliation, it also reflects the economic potential that we let degrade within the confines of the kitchen. Economic regrowth can be ascertained if conditions are created for a sustained return of women to the economic mainstream. We need to start talking about women in the workforce!
Among other reasons that prevent women from either seeking a job or from getting one, is the self and the familial concern around the safety of the woman. Harassment of women at workplace is a major concern that remains inadequately addressed in India. Despite State interventions, organizations have time and again failed to abide by the mandates that could ensure a safer working space for women. This is truer for younger and smaller organizations. To begin with, the government needs to ensure nationwide compliance with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
Beyond a strict implementation of the 2013 Act comes the challenge of informing women of their rights and powers under the Act, and of what constitutes as sexual harassment. This is a task that could be taken up by the civil society. In this regard, special mention must be made of the efforts under taken by Mr. Pradeep Singh and his team. Mr. Singh, is a Lucknow based CSR professional and has launched an Atmanirbhar Bharat webinar Series. Through this he aims to further the objectives of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan by offering vocational training to people in rural India. I had the privilege of covering the fourth part of the series and was delighted to find out that almost an entire session was dedicated to demystifying the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. The importance of such dialogues increases under Atmanirbhar Bharat, which is essentially about creating and promoting local businesses, because non-compliance is quite often a product of lack of knowledge. The efforts undertaken by Mr. Singh and his team deserves special mention as it is one of those rare initiatives which is thinking of women, about their place, their position and their role in an Atmanirbhar India.
It is rather depressing that we need an economic argument to argue for inclusion in a national programme. The plight of women in India is a fact, and the more we ignore it the worse it shall get. It is important to ensure that we do not repeat our mistakes and that we do not exclude women in our struggle to bring back growth. Atmanirbhar Bharat is one of the biggest/ costliest developmental effort undertaken in India in the last few years. If we do not include women in this initiative, we’ll be placing more wealth in the hands of men and will be creating a Bharat that probably no one desires to live in. We need more initiatives like the Atmanirbhar Bharat webinar series that promote women.
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