The participation of women in labour force in Uttar Pradesh has more than doubled from 14.2 percent in 2017-18 to 32.10 percent in 2022-23.
These statistics were revealed in the latest Periodic Labor Force Survey (PLFS) report even as the world celebrates Women’s Day on March 8.
According to the UP government, the encouraging shift is owing to the efforts of chief minister Yogi Adityanath and his unflinching espousal of women’s causes of safety, dignity and self-reliance.
In the same period, India recorded women’s labour force participation rate of 39.80 percent in 2022-23, up from 25.3 percent 2017-18. As such, UP, although still lagging the current national statistics, reported a robust growth owing to much lower rate of 14.2 percent then.
The state government is encouraging women entrepreneurs to avail of loans under the Mudra scheme. Approximately 70 percent of loans under the flagship scheme have been given to women.
Through the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana, women are being connected with self-help groups and rural organisations.
To organise and empower women, nearly 837,000 self-help groups (SHG) have been formed in UP, thus benefiting over 10 million women in rural areas.
The women SHGs have been allotted 1,840 fair price shops under the public distribution system (PDS).
Moreover, the Yogi government’s Banking Correspondent (BC) Sakhi Scheme has emerged as a model for financial inclusion. The process of appointing BC Sakhi is underway in 57,000 gram panchayats of UP to benefit villagers from the gamut of government welfare schemes.
In addition, the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana has empowered women farmers through capacity building and creating diverse livelihood opportunities.
The amount of assistance received under the Mukhyamantri Kanya Sumangala Yojana, which is operational to provide educational opportunities to girls, has been increased from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000. So far, more than 1.86 million girls have benefited from the scheme.