Laws to protect Indian women who are abandoned by their NRI (non-resident Indian) husbands or foreign partners to be finalised soon, said Rakesh Srivastava, Secretary, Ministry of Women & Child Development at an ASSOCHAM event held in New Delhi today.
India has taken a lead role in gender budgeting in the world, he added.
Effort are also required for training and skill upgradation of women in traditional, new and emerging areas to promote women’s employment in both organised/unorganised sectors including entrepreneurial development, said Srivastava while inaugurating an ASSOCHAM 2nd Conference on Women at Workplace.
About 100 women achievers will be honoured by government of India in November at Hyderabad where Ivanka Trump will also likely to join, said Rakesh Srivastava.
Implementation of suitable strategies and women friendly laws will ensure that women have equal opportunities to enter and enjoy decent work in a just and favourable environment, including fair and equal wages, social security measures, and occupational safety and health measures.
Gender equality is critical for the development of any country.
Removing barriers that prevent women from having the same access as men to education, economic opportunities and productive inputs have led to board productivity gains, which are all the more important in a more competitive and globalised world today, he added.
India has been ranked 87 out of 144 countries on the latest World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Report 2016. But in the economic sphere, much work remains to be done as India ranks 136 in this pillar out of 144 countries, said the Secretary.
The progress toward gender equality in respect of participation in economic activities seems to have stalled.
In 2011, the workforce participation rate at all India level is 25.51% for women as compared to 53.26% for men. While there is no urban-rural gap for males (53%), there is considerable rural-urban gap for females, when workforce participation rate for rural women is 30% it in only 15.4% for urban women.
On the other hand, some of the actions taken by the government to protect women — such as ensuring that any woman can file a case of domestic violence against her in-laws and have them instantly behind bars — have been criticized for being too harsh on others.
The government is also working on women’s hostels soon for widows and women in distress in India. So, the working women hostels have also the provision for widows and women in distress.
Women form an integral part of the Indian workforce. They need to be equal partners in the society for them to be equal participants in work. Women have to contend with discriminatory laws, institutions and attitudes that restrict their leadership and full participation in public life. Women are also disadvantaged by unequal access to the resources needed to become effective leaders.
Krishna Raj, Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India said that October 15th to be observed as Women Farmer’s Day. She said, Women can make enormous contributions to economies, whether in businesses, on farms, as entrepreneurs or employees, or by doing unpaid care work at home.