09 August 2024 – The Hindu

All About Women’s Urban Employment Guarantee Act

• The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), which ensures at least 100 days of paid employment per year for unskilled manual labour, has played a significant role in granting financial liberty to women living in rural areas. Urban realities, however, are not the same.
• There is a significant unfulfilled demand for work among urban women, as seen by the greater unemployment rate in metropolitan areas compared to rural ones. In order to address the issues of urban unemployment among women in India, a national Women’s Urban Employment Guarantee Act (WUEGA) has been proposed.

What is the Women’s Urban Employment Guarantee Act (WUEGA) that is being proposed?

• A proposed law called the Women’s Urban Employment Guarantee Act (WUEGA) aims to especially address urban unemployment for women. It deliberately provides job chances, especially for urban women.
• WUEGA’s goal is to reduce the gender pay gap in urban areas by providing equal work opportunities for men and women. WUEGA will endeavour to empower women and promote their involvement in the urban workforce by offering a safety net and stable income.

Potential attributes:

• Employment Guarantee: WUEGA suggests providing women with a minimum of 150 workdays annually.
• Local Work: Establishing employment options for women within a reasonable commute (e.g., 5 km) from their place of residence.
• Accessible Infrastructure: To address the issues faced by working moms, WUEGA may contain provisions for necessary facilities like childcare centres at worksites.
• Skill Development: To close any skill gaps between the qualifications of women in the candidate pool and open positions, the proposal may include training programmes.
• Women-Led Management: It suggests that women should make up a sizable portion of the WUEGA management team, preferably making up 50% or more of the programme management staff employed by WUEGA.
• Supportive Measures: It is possible to establish incentives such automatic membership in welfare boards, which might function as organisations that grant pensions and maternity benefits as well as sources of emergency funding.

Why is the Women’s Urban Employment Guarantee Act (WUEGA) Required?

• Gender differences in job prospects are common in urban settings. In the final quarter of 2023, just 22.9% of urban women had a job, according to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS).
• The approximate number of women in urban areas between the ages of 15 and 59 who are unemployed is 10.18 crore.
• These particular difficulties faced by women are not sufficiently addressed by the urban employment programmes now in place.

Goals for Sustainable Development and Economic Empowerment:

• WUEGA will give urban women job possibilities that are guaranteed, so empowering them. It allows women to participate in their homes and communities by guaranteeing a minimum amount of workdays.
• Encouraging women to work is essential to reaching sustainable development objectives, such as economic empowerment and gender equality.

Supportive infrastructure and childcare:

• Urban women have higher levels of education, but they still have lower rates of workforce engagement because of things like societal norms, safety concerns, and restricted transit options.
• The necessity of childcare services at workplaces is emphasised by WUEGA. Thanks to these provisions, women can work without sacrificing their caregiving responsibilities.

Learning from Effective Rural Employment Programmes:

• Leveraging insights from efficacious rural employment initiatives such as the MGNREGA, the WUEGA can recreate analogous strategies customised for urban settings.
• The WUEGA can improve women’s engagement in the workforce by utilising frameworks and experiences that are already in place.

Possibility of Economic Development and Growth:

• By increasing the labour force and boosting productivity, higher employment rates for women can act as a stimulant for economic growth.
• The WUEGA has the ability to support more general objectives of economic growth by utilising the skills and capacities of urban women.

What Possible Obstacles Might the Women’s Urban Employment Guarantee Act (WUEGA) Face?

Cost Burden:

• Ensuring employment guarantees results in substantial expenses for wages, programme administration, and infrastructure construction (e.g., childcare facilities at worksites).
• Assuming 150 workdays annually at ₹500 per day, the wage component—which the Union government would finance—would account for about 1.5% of GDP.

Creation of Jobs in the Area:

• It may be difficult to provide a sufficient number of various work options within an acceptable distance (e.g., 5 km) from a woman’s place of living, particularly in heavily populated cities.
• In order to create appropriate work possibilities, the programme will need to take local infrastructure and needs into account.

Safety Issues:

• Women in metropolitan environments continue to have serious concerns about their safety, especially when travelling to and from work.
• Women may be less likely to seek career possibilities due to fear of harassment or violence in public places, which would restrict their involvement in the workforce.
• Data from the NCRB’s annual crime report, “Crime in India 2022,” showed that the rate of crimes against women per lakh population was 66.4, while the charge sheeting in these cases was recorded at 75.8.

Deficits in Skills:

• It’s possible that a large number of urban women lack the training and experience needed for formal job.
• There may be barriers preventing women from accessing high-quality education and career training, which could result in skill gaps and lower employability.

Building Capacity:

• It could be challenging at first to guarantee that programme managers at all levels include at least 50% women.
• It may be necessary to implement targeted capacity-building programmes in order to develop a strong female workforce for programme management.

Legal and Administrative Obstacles:

• A simplified bureaucracy to manage registration, job assignment, grievance resolution, and monitoring is necessary for an effective program’s implementation.
• The adoption of laws intended to improve women’s workplace rights may be hampered by resistance from people or organisations that are anti-change and support the status quo.
• Stereotypes about gender and social norms:
• Acceptance of women’s greater engagement in the workforce may be hampered by deeply ingrained societal expectations, particularly in urban regions where traditional gender roles are more prominent.
• Pervasive preconceptions about women’s duties as homemakers or carers may make it difficult for them to pursue formal employment.

What are India’s government initiatives aimed at promoting urban employment?

• National Urban Livelihoods Mission – Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana (DAY-NULM)
• Atma Nirbhar Nidhi of PM Street Vendors (PM SVANidhi)

State Governments:

• Kerala was one of the first states to introduce the Ayyankali Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme (AUEGS) in 2011, offering 100 person-days of guaranteed wage employment. According to the plan requirements, ULBs in Kerala must prioritise women such that they make up at least 50% of the program’s beneficiaries.
• The Mukhya Mantri Shahri Ajeevika Guarantee Yojna was introduced in Himachal Pradesh in 2020 with the goal of improving livelihood stability in urban areas by giving every household in the state 120 days of guaranteed wage work within a fiscal year.
• Jharkhand: The Mukhyamantri Shramik Yojana was introduced in 2020 with the goal of improving livelihood security in the state of Jharkhand by guaranteeing 100 days of paid work during a fiscal year.

What Steps Should Be Taken Next to Enact WUEGA Effectively?

• Policymakers can gain significant insights into the unique obstacles faced by urban women in obtaining and maintaining employment using gender-disaggregated statistics.
• Data collection should include trends in the types of employment chosen, the typical times of year that women access these professions, the educational attainment of women who choose to participate in the programme, and other relevant information.

• Create a comprehensive law known as the Women’s Urban Employment Guarantee Act (WUEGA) that outlines the rights, obligations, and benefits of the government and the recipients based on data that is broken down by gender.
• Equal pay for equal work should be required by law, guaranteeing that women be paid the same as men for jobs with comparable duties and responsibilities.

• Assign sufficient financial resources to the WUEGA implementation, making sure that wages, overhead, infrastructure development, and capacity-building programmes are all covered.
• To guarantee the successful administration and execution of the WUEGA, offer beneficiaries, programme managers, and government officials training and capacity-building initiatives.

• Launch pilot projects in a few chosen cities to see if WUEGA can be implemented. To evaluate the preparedness of various metropolitan regions and pinpoint possible obstacles and opportunities, conduct feasibility studies.
• WUEGA should be implemented gradually, focusing first on metropolitan regions with comparatively developed infrastructure and support networks before progressively extending to other locations.

• Provide thorough monitoring and assessment procedures to monitor programme implementation progress, evaluate programme efficacy, and pinpoint areas that require improvement. Pay particular attention to outcomes like increased income, skill development, and employment creation.

• In order to reduce safety concerns and promote more workforce participation, put in place measures to improve the safety and security of women in public settings, such as sufficient lighting, surveillance systems, and increased police monitoring.

• Encourage and assist female entrepreneurs in launching and expanding their enterprises by giving them access to capital, networking opportunities, and mentorship programmes. This will open up new career paths and promote their economic independence.

• Form alliances with community organisations, businesses, international agencies, and civil society organisations to take advantage of their networks, resources, and experience in implementing WUEGA successfully.

• Run sensitization and awareness efforts to dispel gender stereotypes, advance gender equality, and alter public perceptions of women’s roles and skills in the workforce.

• The Indian Constitution is based on the values of social justice and equality, and in order to address the gender gap in employment, affirmative action is mandated. The WUEGA’s implementation is consistent with these constitutional mandates as well as moral commitments to advance gender empowerment and equality.