The proportion of women workers participating in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has touched a ten-year high in the ongoing financial year.
As per the Union Ministry of Rural Development report, 57.8% of the workers who used the scheme this year were women.
This is their highest level of participation since 2012-13.
Out of the reviewed15 States, 14 States reported an upward trend in women’s participation.
The Kerala witnessed the minute drop.
For the last five years, in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, women’s share in the MGNREGA workforce has been hovering between 85-90%.
The growth spike was higher in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
The proportion of women workers in Bihar grew 3.7 percentage points this year, while UP saw a 3.3 percentage point hike.
But even after this year’s spike, UP is still skimming just above the mandatory women’s participation level of 33% under MGNREGA.
This year, 37.6% person days were used by women as opposed to last year’s figure of 34.28%.
women make up less than 50% of the MGNREGA workforce in seven States: Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Assam, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.