India saw 1.5 million women losing their jobs after the lockdown last year, according to the State of India’s Livelihoods report, prepared by Access Development Services, a livelihood support organisation. Total jobs lost during the period was 6.3 million, the report adds.

The report added that women workers in the informal sector were badly affected as 71 per cent of rural women lost their jobs post-lockdown, compared to 59 per cent of men. It also noted that the unemployment rate was highest among the youth after lockdown. The report was released by Nabard Chairman GR Chintala at the Livelihoods India Summit here on Thursday. It said that of the 6.3 million jobs lost last year, women accounted for 1.5 million lost jobs at 23 per cent. The report observed that although the unemployment rate declined to 8.3 per cent as of September2021, the unemployment rate among the youth was at 32 per cent as of August2021.

Citing various Periodic Labour Force Survey statistics, the report said one-third of men and nine out of 10 women in the country are not participating in the workforce.

“The divide was far larger in urban areas with 67 per cent of men and 9.4 per cent of women participating in the workforce, compared to 68 per cent of men and 10.6 per cent of women in rural areas,” said the report.

Forced return of migrants

Chintala said the most disruptive impact of the pandemic was the forced return of migrants to their native States. “The obvious reason for return migration is lack of earnings and inadequate savings to tide over the lockdown period. We need to build a development paradigm, which ensures that additional and sustainable livelihoods are created in rural areas,” he said.

He said in many parts of the country, FPOs stepped in successfully, creating supply chains in the Covid scenario.

“A similar case exists in the case of handlooms and handicrafts. The entire logistics chain has been set in motion, but it currently lacks depth and width. The canvas is huge, and there are immense possibilities to collaborate with other stakeholders in this task.

“We intend seizing this opportunity to play an important role in ensuring that agriculture and rural development will emerge as powerhouses in the years to come,” he added.

Related Topics