Question : Employment Opportunities for Women

(a) whether the number of unemployed women has increased in the country during the last few years and if so, the details thereof along with the reaction of the Government thereto;

(b) the number of unemployed women registered in various employment exchanges including the major cities during each of the last three years and the current year, State/UT-wise;

(c) the details of the employment opportunities created/provided and the training being provided to women to make them employable during the said period;

(d) whether the Government has any proposal to upgrade/strengthen the employment exchanges in the country and if so, the details thereof; and

(e) the steps being taken by the Government to generate more employment opportunities specially for women in the country?

MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
(SHRI SANTOSH KUMAR GANGWAR)

(a): As per the results available from labour force survey on Employment-Unemployment conducted by the Labour Bureau, Ministry of Labour and Employment, the estimated unemployment rate for female aged 15 years and above on usual status basis in the country is given below:

Year Female Unemployment Rate
2012-13 5.6%
2013-14 4.9%
2015-16 5.8%


(b): As per the information received from the states, the number of female job seekers, all of whom may not necessarily be unemployed, registered with live register of employment exchanges in the country is given below:
Year Female job seekers(in Crore)
2012 1.56
2013 1.65
2014 1.71
2015(As on Sept, 2015) 1.60 Provisional)
Data for the year 2016 & 2017 are not available. The State-wise detail is given at Annexure.

(c): 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. A number of protective provisions have been incorporated in various labour laws for creating congenial work environment for women workers.

(d) & (e): The Ministry is implementing the National Career Service (NCS) Project as a plan scheme for transformation of the National Employment Service to provide a variety of employment related services like job matching, career counselling, vocational guidance, information on skill development courses, etc. The NCS Project envisages setting up of 100 Model Career Centres (MCCs) in collaboration with States and other institutions to deliver employment services. In addition, the NCS project has a component of interlinking of employment exchanges with NCS and provides central funding to States for upgradation of infrastructures in Employment Exchanges, in accordance with scheme guidelines.

The Employment generation coupled with improving employability has been the priority concern of the Government. The Government is implementing various programmes in this direction like encouraging private sector of economy, fast tracking 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. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) and Deendyal Antodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM)
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MUDRA and Start-Ups schemes are initiated by the Government for facilitating self-employment. In order to improve the employability of youth, around 22 Ministries/Departments run skill development schemes across various sectors.

Government has implemented the National Career Service (NCS) Project which comprises a digital portal that provides a nation-wide online platform for the job seekers and employers for job-matching in a dynamic, efficient and responsive manner and has a repository of career content.

A Scheme called Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY) has been launched by the Government in the year 2016-17 for incentivizing industry for promoting employment generation.
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