Employment of women, both in urban and rural areas of the country has almost doubled during the last decade. The increase in employment of females was recently recorded at around 9.1 percent as compared to the 4.6 percent of 1996, said an official report. However the female employment ratio in rural areas is better than the urban areas.
The report, compiled for the period of 1995-96 to 2005-06, said that the overall employment in the country has increased from 34 to 47 per cent during the last 10 years with possibilities of further progress.
Statistics show that the total employment of both genders in urban areas rose from 10.3 to 14.5 per cent during the period under review. The employment in rural areas increased from 23.9 to 32.5 percent. 4.94 million work opportunities were created in just two years as around 46.94 million people were employed in 2005-06 while only 42 million in 2003-04.
The report said that job generation became possible through pro-poor policies and programs. The government's focus on agriculture and livestock, especially dairy production has resulted in a higher employment creation in rural areas as compared to urban ones. According to an official, the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) initiated in rural areas also helped.
Experts observed that robust growth in industry and the service sector in urban areas during the last few years helped raise employment opportunities. Other contributing factors included consumer spending in various sectors said the official.