Continuing the discussion on gender equality, let us focus on labour force participation. According to available data, the participation of women in the workforce in India is 20.3 per cent. The share comes down to 18.2 per cent if we look at urban India. Meanwhile, women’s employability rate is expected to be 51.44 per cent in 2022, an increase over the figure of 41.25 per cent in 2021.

These numbers are hardly surprising because the FLFPR or Female Labour Force Participation Rate has been declining steadily over the last three decades.

If we have to change the trend for the better, it will need a multipronged approach. While policies and initiatives are being taken to help women acquire and improve various skills, it might not be enough to increase their participation. Or else the numbers for urban India—where access to skill-training is easier—would have been higher than that for the rural sector.

It will need a broader consensus and a focus on inclusiveness.

MSMEs or micro, small and medium enterprises, will continue to play a big role in this. As we know, MSMEs contribute to 30 per cent of the country’s GDP with a substantial penetration in the rural segment. The sector’s contribution adds up to 45% of our manufacturing output.

Village Financial Services and other microfinance companies fund MSMEs run by women. They also have the mandate of empowering women, so they are always working to improve the awareness and skills of rural women.

Financial literacy helps rural women appreciate the options available to them and their role in the labour force. It also helps generate direct and indirect employment, a major part of them being women.

An interesting case is Aleya Bibi of Barasta village in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district. A mother of three, Aleya came to know of a business opportunity: wholesale traders were farming out the manufacture of shirts to local businesses.

Aleya was not sure if she could manage her household of five and run a business at the same time. She was over 45 years old.

But her family encouraged her and VFS staff guided her. She set up the business three years ago.

Regular grooming in entrepreneurship helped her understand how to manage her finances. She learnt that if she wants to grow, she must put the profits back in the business and not withdraw them.

That’s how she could add a sewing machine to her workshop and now boasts of employing a local workforce.

Living in her own house Aleya now aspires to go direct to the brands for orders. If she can eliminate one link in the supply chain, her margins will increase and so will her business.

Entrepreneurs like Aleya are not only examples of women in the workforce, but they also help more women join the workforce. The ripple effect of entrepreneurship may be one of the best methods to increase FLFPR.