India releases advisory, survey to boost women’s participation in workforce

With an aim to boost participation of women in the country's workforce, India's Ministry of Labour and Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) have launched a survey to gather details about female workers already part of the workforce. The government has also issued an advisory on the matter.

The Employee's Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), which is one of world's largest social security agencies, has begun sending a survey on mobile devices in India. The survey is being sent via SMS, WhatsApp and even e-mails. The survey includes a questionnaire which has questions about the recipients' workplaces and support they provide to female workers. The survey also asks the recipients to rate their workplaces and asks about facilities such as late-night transportation, internal committee for handling sexual harassment complaints, childcare centres and more.

“The employers’ rating survey (is) to help us gauge the progress and efforts of employers based on specific facilities," said a senior WCD ministry official as quoted by Mint.

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“This initiative is a step towards accountability and recognition of those who actively contribute to a more inclusive work environment."

The official was not named in the news report.

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In October last year, India's Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation released the Periodic Labour Force Survey Report 2022-23. The report noted that female participation in the labour force had shown uptick of 4.2 percentage points to 37 per cent in 2023.

Centre issues advisory on the matter

The Ministry Labour on January 30 released an advisory to employers asking them to promote gender equality in the workplace and ensure women employees' participation and take steps for empowerment of women.

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Smriti Irani, Union Minister for Women & Child Development and Minority Affairs was present at the event in New Delhi during which the guidelines were issued. She commended Ministry of Labour for the steps it had taken.

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“We are proudly a part of Digital Democracy under the leadership of our Hon’ble Prime Minister and today more than 24 crore women across the country have bank accounts,” she said.

(With inputs from agencies)