By Altaf Hussain Janjua

Srinagar Nov 22 (IANS): In Jammu and Kashmir, women are no longer behind men in terms of employment, as the women are also taking advantage of the available employment opportunities.

According to a recent report by the government, the participation of women in the labour force has increased in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) report states the rate of working women in Jammu and Kashmir was 26.5 per cent in 2018-19, which has now increased to 32.8 per cent in 2021, while the rate at the national level is 25.1 per cent.

According to the report, the LFPR of women in the villages of Jammu and Kashmir is higher than in the towns.

At least 35.3 per cent of women in villages and 22.3 per cent of women in towns work as labourers. The number of working women between 15 and 59 years has increased to 46.8 per cent, which was 36.3 per cent in 2018-19.

The most interesting thing is that more and more women are joining business to support their families and become financially independent.

One of the reasons for this is that the government has also started many schemes to make women employable. Last year, women established 3,933 micro small medium enterprise units.

Among the schemes run by the government is 'Hosla', a comprehensive programme encouraging women in Jammu and Kashmir to start their own businesses, under which financial support of up to Rs 50,000 is given.

The Jammu and Kashmir government is also helping women under the Tejaswani scheme.

Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha introduced the programme in June 2021.

The main objective of this start-up funding programme is to empower and establish young women and girls in Jammu and Kashmir as independent company owners.

The programme allows women business owners to avail financial assistance of up to Rs 5 lakh from J&K Bank under the Mudra programme.