×
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Women to have more say in job scheme

Last Updated 04 December 2012, 18:46 IST

The Congress-led UPA government on Tuesday said it was committed to strengthening the participation of women in its flagship scheme under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

Speaking at a function here, Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh said his ministry would soon write to state governments recommending that 50 per cent of the supervisors at MGNREGA work sites should be women.

The minister was speaking at the National Consultation on Women and MGNREGA organised by Gender at Work and UN Women.

He said MGNREGA scheme was the world’s largest pay-for-work programme and could be an essential source of employment for women.

“The participation of women in the MGNREGA has, however, been mixed. Only 18 per cent of women have participated in Uttar Pradesh. In comparison, almost 90 per cent of women are involved in Kerala, and 80 per cent in Rajasthan. The involvement of dalit women is even lower. The low participation of women in Uttar Pradesh is unacceptable,” said Aruna Roy, Member, National Advisory Council.

The MGNREGA also focuses on households rather than the individual. “The word household had no place in an entitlement-based law. Job cards should be given separately in the name of men and women,” said Jean Dreze, Honorary Professor, Delhi School of Economics and Gobind Ballabh Pant Social Sciences Institute.

ADVERTISEMENT
(Published 04 December 2012, 18:46 IST)

Follow us on

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT