Women participation in NREGS continues to rise, 59% this fiscal

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Last Updated27/12/2023

Women participation in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) was the highest in 10 financial years
the proportion of women person-days in the total touching 59.25% till December 24 during the current financial year 2023-24

The rates of participation of women in the MGNREGS, defined as women person-days out of the total in percentage, stood at 57.47% in 2022-23 and 54.82% in 2021-22.
The lowest percentage of women participation in the NREGS over the last 10 financial years was recorded in 2020-21 at 53.19%.
The broad trends indicate a steady rise in the women participation in the rural job guarantee scheme.
the southern states like Kerala (89%), Tamil Nadu (86%), Puducherry (87.16%) and Goa (72%) have recorded women participation rate of over 70%
it has been hovering around 40% or below in northern states like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh over the years.
In 2023-24, 5 states/UTs with the lowest women participation rate under NREGS are: UTs of Jammu and Kashmir (30.47%)
An uptick has been reported in 3 of them during the current financial year: Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Lakshadweep.

As per the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), published by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the female Labour Force Participation Rate has increased in the country in recent years.
The rise was sharp in rural areas.
In rural areas, the female Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), defined as the percentage of persons in the labour force among the persons in the population, increased to 30.5% in 2022-23 (July-June) from 18.2% in 2017-18.
The female unemployment rate has declined to 1.8% in 2022-23 from 3.8% in 2017-18.