Srinagar: Women in Jammu and Kashmir are not far behind their male counterparts in terms of employment opportunities, according to the most recent study of the Government of India that revealed an increase in female labour force participation in J&K.
According to the report, the labour force participation rate (LFPR) for women in J&K increased across all age groups from 26.5 percent in 2018-19 to 32.8 percent in 2021.
It significantly outperforms the national LFPR of 25.1 percent of females across all age categories.
The LFPR for men in J&K is 55.8 percent.
According to the survey, J&K’s rural women made a greater contribution to the LFPR than its urban women.
The LFPR of females in rural J&K is 35.3 percent compared to 22.3 percent in urban regions.
According to the survey, women in J&K between the ages of 15 and 59 made up 46.8 percent of the workforce, up from 36.3 percent in 2018-19.
It was revealed that women now make up 22.7 percent of the workforce in J&K.
According to the survey, J&K has a ratio of 57 percent female to male workers in technical jobs.
Officials said that more women were turning to entrepreneurship to support their families and become financially independent.
Over the last year, 3933 Micro Small Medium Enterprise (MSME) units owned by women have appeared in J&K.
The J&K government has launched numerous programmes for women.
‘HAUSLA’ is one such comprehensive programme that aims to encourage female entrepreneurship in J&K.
With this programme, the government hopes to provide financial assistance to 50,000 Kashmiri youth, predominantly women.
Through the ambitious ‘Tesjaswani’ scheme, the J&K government is empowering and inspiring young women by offering financial support for starting profitable self-employment businesses that are appropriate for their abilities, training, aptitude, and local conditions.
The J&K administration is also supporting soft finance for the establishment of new businesses as well as for the growth and modernisation of current ones to generate money.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha introduced this programme in June 2021.
This start-up funding programme’s overarching goal is to empower and establish young women and girls in J&K as independent company owners.
‘Tejaswini’ scheme offers financial aid to women between the ages of 18 and 35.
The programme allows female business owners to receive up to Rs 5 lakh in financial support from J&K Bank under the Mudra programme.