Employment Participation of Rural Women in Punjab: A Need for Policy Retrospect

Economic policy in India is governed by the neoclassical growth theory as growth being an answer to all problems. This has led to the design of policies that focuses on the expansion of economic activity in urban areas. The underlying assumption is that economic activity in rural areas will gear up with trickling down of benefits sourced in urban areas. This oversimplified understanding of the economy has led to a lopsided development where the gap between rural and urban areas has been widening. Employment of rural women is one of the biggest casualties of this growth policy. Rural women in Punjab, one of the most developed states, have been bearing the brunt of current economic policies. The prevailing gender norms restrict women from travelling outside their villages for work. While men migrate or travel to urban areas for work, women in rural areas have largely become unemployed or underemployed, given the dearth of employment in rural areas. Findings of the primary survey, conducted in rural areas of Punjab, show that the majority of women are willing to work if work is available within the village. The growth policies focussed on urban areas has not only led to adverse employment outcome for these women, but also has kept a large share of workforce out of productive employment. COVID-19 pandemic has further hurt the employment prospect of women. The initial trends suggest that women’s employment is more severely hit than their male counterparts. The governments are increasingly using the same set of policies to fight the economic fallout of the pandemic. Such policies are unlikely to benefit women in rural areas. The pandemic has further increased their cost of travel. In addition to the cost of breaking social norms, they have to risk the infection to reach urban areas for work. The increased restrictions on public transport have increased the monetary cost of travel. In such a scenario, women are likely to find the cost of travelling to urban areas for work more than the expected earnings. The economic policy, for an inclusive development, must focus on creating infrastructure and businesses, especially those which can employ women, to create jobs in rural areas. Such a policy will not only create better employment opportunities in rural areas but will also lead to higher growth and faster recovery.