Why Women's Empowerment is Empowering the Future of India

India’s workforce is predominantly male. But for India to become a global superpower, empowering women in the workplace is the key, both in the rural and urban spheres. India has taken great strides in this regard in the last 5 years as we discuss in this blog. But there’s much more to be done. Because Women's Empowerment is ultimately empowering the Future of India.

 Rural Women of India 

 Discussions over women's empowerment often revolve around urban workplaces. Every women’s day, the web world and social media platforms get bombarded with topics - Gender Disparity, Pay Inequality, Lack of Employment and Leadership Opportunities etc. – essentially about urban women. What about women in rural areas of India?

 Constituting a major part of the rural population, the role of women as farmers, workers and entrepreneurs in the rural economy cannot be underestimated. The government of India has played a vital role in empowering rural women of India. Initiatives like Digital India and inclusive financial services have opened up opportunities for women to grow financially. 

 A plethora of schemes have empowered women to start their entrepreneurship journey which include:

• Bhartiya Mahila Bank Business Loan
• Dena Shakti Scheme
• Udyogini Scheme
• Cent Kalyani Scheme 

 A finance ministry report titled “The Indian Economy: A Review” revealed that the female labour force participation rate (FLFPR) has reached 37% per the last survey done in 2022-23. Interestingly, rural FLFPR has seen a significant growth of 14% among rural women compared to 5% for urban women.

 The report further shows that the rise in rural women employment can be attributed to an increase in both the account worker (8% increase) and unpaid helper category (5%) in 2023. In the agriculture sector, the backbone of India’s economy, rural women workforce has increased to 76% from 73% in 2017-18. In addition, the male workforce in agriculture is declining, plausibly the reason behind the increasing women's participation. 

 A State of Working India Report 2023 reveals the following:

• Younger women with higher levels of education are entering the workplace

• The number of women in salaried employment is increasing

• The share of women entering the services sector is increasing

• Under Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana offering micro-credit for entrepreneurship, 70% of beneficiaries are women

• In addition, 84% of loans sanctioned under Start-up India have also gone to women beneficiaries. This could be the reason why the proportion of self-employed women reached 70%     

 According to a report from apna.co, women and workforce dynamics in tier 2 and tier 3 cities have seen positive growth in 2022 and 2023. Here are some highlights:

• 3.2 crore Total Job Applicants from Tier 2 and Tier 3 Cities 
• 1 Crore Women Applicants 
• 13% Growth in 2023 Compared 
• 60% of Job Postings Want Freshers / New Workers 

Dynamic development led by rural women and innovative solutions for local problems will boost the grassroots of the country, drive sustainable economic growth and make the dream of Atmanirbhar Bharat possible.

 Urban Women of India 

 Women corporate leaders and entrepreneurs have been breaking barriers, playing a prominent role in transforming the business landscape of India and leading from the front in fostering economic growth. The potential of urban women of India needs to be urgently utilized to achieve the goal of Viksit Bharat by 2047.

 As per the latest reports, India currently has close to 15 million businesses managed by women, spread across sectors such as healthcare, e-commerce and technology. The growth in women entrepreneurship has had a major impact on the development of business mindset in women, spurring innovation in every sphere. 

Here are some of the latest reports offering insights into the growth of women in the workplace:

 A report from Careernet shows the following:

• Women in the workforce have increased to 37% in 2022-23 from 23% in 2017-18. 
• Global Capability Centres (GCCs) in the BFSI sector have hired women the most, which is 43% compared to 40% in 2022. 
• 40% of freshers placed from colleges in 2023 were women.

According to another report, outsourcing accounting and auditing has opened the doors for women CAs to grow in India.  

• The share of women CAs increased from 8% in 2000 to 30% in 2024.
• In 2023, women CAs reached 1.2 lakh in number from 73,000 in 2019.
• 75 women aspirants have topped CA exams at different levels in the last 10 years.

More insights:

• The IT sector now has 36% of women workforce. Companies driving DEI initiatives have women representation up to 40%. 
• 50% of mobile manufacturing happens in South India, where 70% of employees are women.

Rise of Home-Entrepreneurs

In urban cities, women are turning home entrepreneurs and achieving their aspirations by leveraging the following:

• Easy transactions via digital payments
• Marketing and promotion of products/services through website and social media
• E-commerce platforms to reach their customer base

There are 12 million Self-Help Groups (SHGs) under the Centre’s National Rural Livelihood Mission. State initiatives and NGOs work to integrate home entrepreneurs into larger value chains and sustainable setups. These businesses work on an asset-light model that is usually profitable. 

Women Empowerment: Long Way to Go

Even though the Indian business landscape is filled with women success stories, there’s a long way to go. The ratio of men and women in leadership roles is still unchanged, tilting more towards the former. As per a CRISIL survey, 23% of women see the gender pay gap as a real challenge. 

The Government of India is taking several measures to empower women across all sectors. In addition, the government has released an advisory stating that “Every employer should promote women in management and leadership roles, promote women-run enterprises in the value chain, mitigate unconscious biases in recruitment, promotion and evaluation of women employees while undertaking periodic audits to rectify gender pay gap.” 

The enterprises should take note of the advisory and drive concrete measures and actions to support women in the workplace, which in turn, will usher in a new era of economic growth for India. 

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