Lucknow: The participation of women in Uttar Pradesh’s labour force increased from 14% in 2017-18 to 36% in 2023-24, according to the recently released Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) Index report.A govt spokesperson said: “Over the past seven years, the state govt made continuous efforts to create a safe, respectful, and productive work environment for women. From improving women’s safety and launching the Mission Shakti programme, to giving women priority in govt jobs, allowing them to work night shifts, and increasing job opportunities in industries, women have been placed at the centre of all policy decisions.“The WEE report states that India’s female labour force participation rate in 2023-24 was 45%, while in UP it was 36%. In 2017-18, when BJP came to power in the state, UP’s rate was 14%, against the national average of 25%.The official said that a major reason for the progress was Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s efforts in ensuring that the several pro-women schemes launched by the Centre were implemented properly in the state. “UP govt took several landmark decisions to enhance women’s participation in the industrial workforce and empower them economically. Recently, the govt allowed women to work in all 29 categories of factories that were earlier classified as hazardous and prohibited for female workers across the country. Initially, conditional permission was given for only 12 categories,” the spokesperson said.He added that the state govt also permitted women to work night shifts, provided employers arrange proper safety, transportation, food, and rest facilities for them.As per the labour and employment department, women now account for 53% of registrations on the e-Shram portal, and 34.65% of workers in the construction sector are women. The govt also helped form over 10 lakh self-help groups, connecting more than 1 crore women with income-generating activities, which boosted women’s entrepreneurship and self-reliance across both urban and rural areas.
