Eminent women achievers took a critical look at what has been restricting them to enter organised workforce and came out with suggestions to increase their presence manifold.
It is the general mindset of girls being looked at as ‘debit’ and boys as ‘credit’ factors and that the women stereotyped as main care givers to the family is the stumbling block to their employment, said DRDO senior scientist Shashikala Sinha.
She was one of the participants at the Round Table on ‘Women Employability’ organised by Ministry of Labour and Employment here on Tuesday. Ms. Karuna Gopal, Advisor on Smart Cities project of Centre, said economic prosperity of the nation was linked to number of women joining workforce.
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The GDP will increase by 27% if female employment rate were to match that of men, she said quoting a report.
Educationist Shantha Sinha said several young girls were defying child marriages and they need support structures. Social welfare residential schools should provide lateral admission to such girls who wanted to study and work. Instead of giving ₹ 50,000 under Kalyanalakshmi, the amount should be given to the girl as scholarship to study and break the gender stereotype, she opined.
The speakers said safety was not a luxury but necessity for women to come into public places and pursue employment with confidence.
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The onus should be on the Government to provide safety for girls and women, Ms. Sinha said.
Skill training
Entrepreneur Ramadevi said there should be no age bar for women to undergo skill training as many would prefer to pursue a vocation in their 40s. The MSME sector should give more jobs to women.
Doctor Manjula said health awareness should be created among working women in organised and unorganised sector, stress caused by gender bias and menopause phase should be addressed to make them productive at work place.
Ananda Shankar, an IRS official, said women should not build glass cages around themselves and organisations should focus on how to retain a woman employee after the motherhood.
Entrepreneur Uma Chigurupati said support of family and society was important for women to realise their potential to take on unconventional jobs in manufacturing sector and work in shifts as in China.
Hema Balakrishnan, a social entrepreneur, said that she brought technology and craftspersons together to organise the unorganised sector help them find market through e-commerce.
Saritha, who worked as driver in Delhi transport, said that with support women can enter any field. K. Manjula, Jouranalist said creches in work places, pick up and drop facility for women would be of help.
The suggestions included mentoring of girls should start from school and college level and skill development be merged with NREGA in rural areas.