Isn response to a question raised by Rajya Sabha MP Mahesh Poddar, Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Dharmendra Pradhan has said that of the 40 lakh candidates nominated in the Prime Minister Skill Development Scheme under 2016-2020, 45 per cent are women.
However, the participation of women labour force of the age of 15 and above has dropped from 30 per cent in 2011-2012 to 27.4 per cent in 2015-16, he added. He attributed the figures to surveys conducted by the Labour Bureau of the Ministry of Labour and Employment “In the subsequent years, attempts by the Government to motivate women for employment have had considerable success. As per figures available on January 21, 2019, of the 40 lakh candidates nominated in the Prime Minister Skill Development Scheme under 2016-20, 45 percent are women. In his question, Poddar had raised concern over the low participation of women labour force in India and sought a reply from the minister.
In his reply, Pradhan said that in order to encourage women participation in skill training, provision has been made to provide travel allowance to women trainees. Woman trainees, who have their training centre in their home district, get travel allowance of Rs 1,000 per month.
The ones who have to travel to other districts for training get an allowance of Rs 1,500 per month. “Skill fairs are organized regularly for spreading awareness about the Prime Minister Skill Development Plan,” he said in his reply.
After receiving the reply, Poddar suggested that in a bid to achieve better results, participation of social institutions and intellectuals was necessary “All these efforts can be effective only when non-government, social organizations and the intellectuals of the society participate in the process,” he said.