'Sad reality of ‘Amrit Kaal': Salaried, self-employed women are earning less today than what they did 6 yrs ago, says Congress

New Delhi: Seeking to debunk the BJP government's claims of a “steady surge” in women’s participation in workforce, Congress on Sunday said the “sad reality” of the ‘Amrit Kaal’ is that salaried or self-employed women are earning less today than what they did six years ago.

It also said the government data itself shows that the increase in women in the workforce is “driven by rural distress” and that the quality of jobs has “sharply deteriorated” along with a steep decline in real wages, making it “nothing less than a tragedy and another failed jumla” of the government.

Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh claimed that never has economic data been “doctored” as it has been during the last decade of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and referred to the claims of “phenomenal story” of the “steady surge” in women's labour force participation ratio (LFPR) from 27 per cent in 2017-18 to 41.7 per cent in 2023-24.

Calling it “completely bogus”, Ramesh said in a statement that the increase in women's LFPR is primarily driven by rural women, whose entry into the labour force is due to economic distress.

Ramesh said the proportion of rural women engaged in self-employment has jumped sharply from 57.7 per cent to 73.5 per cent while self-employment among urban women has risen from 34.8 per cent to 42.3 per cent and unpaid family work by women has risen from 31.7 per cent to 36.7 per cent in the last six fiscal years.

Ramesh said any modernising economy undergoes structural transformation as workers move from low-paying agricultural jobs to better prospects in manufacturing and service industries.

“This has tragically been reversed over the past decade. The proportion of rural women working in agriculture has increased from 73.2 per cent (2017-18) to 76.9 per cent (2023-24) and remains above what it was even during the pandemic. Meanwhile the share of jobs in the modern services sector for women has declined since 2021,” he said.

He said wages also present a “dismal picture” and the real average wage of self-employed women decreased by 35 per cent or Rs 3,073 between 2017-18 and 2023-24 while that of salaried women fell by Rs 1,342 or 7 per cent.

“In short, women entering the workforce as either salaried workers or self-employed are earning less today than they did six years ago. This is the sad reality of Amrit Kaal,” he claimed.

“In ordinary circumstances, an increase in the women's LFPR would have been something to celebrate. But when it is driven by rural distress, when the quality of jobs has sharply deteriorated and the real wages of female workers across categories have fallen sharply according to the government's own data, this should be seen as nothing less than a tragedy and another failed jumla of the Modi government,” he said.