Women’s participation in NREGS dips in eight years

Data analysis from the NREGS portal shows that the participation share of women is the lowest in eight years

The rate of participation of women, in terms of persondays, for work offered under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) has registered downward movement for the first time in 8 years at 52.46 percent, as reported by the Indian Express.

According to data from the NREGS portal till August 24, this is the lowest share since the year 2013-14, when participation rate was 52.82 percent.

There had been a steady increase from then to 2016 when registration of 56.16 percent by women was seen.

Out of the 13.34 crore NREGA workers in India, 6.58 crores or 49 percent are women.

While officials have not commented on the dip, one of the reasons behind this decline could be the exodus of workers from metropolitan areas to hometowns and villages due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns imposed to contain it.

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While 18 states and union territories have seen a decline in the number of women participating in the scheme, 14 saw a marginal increase.

The country-wide rate of decline was 2.24 percent, with Andhra Pradesh witnessing a decline of 3.58 percent, the highest in the country. West Bengal was a close second with 3.32 percent and Telangana was next with 2.62 percent, followed by Himachal Pradesh at 2.44 percent.

Increase in participation was seen in Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Gujarat, Kerala, Odisha, Maharashtra, Nagaland, Assam, Karnataka, Puducherry, Goa, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura.

The highest share of women’s persondays within the span of this year, came from Kerala at 91.38 percent, followed by Puducherry at 87 percent, Tamil Nadu at 84.82 percent, and Goa at 75.75 percent.

States with the lowest participation shares were Jammu and Kashmir, which stood at 30.72 percent, followed by Uttar Pradesh at 33 percent, Nagaland at 36 percent, Arunachal Pradesh at 40 percent, Jharkhand at 40.77 percent, and Madhya Pradesh at 41 percent.