The Congress on Sunday alleged the women workforce are earning less today than six years ago and it is the sad reality of 'Amrit kaal'.

Congress general secretary, communications, Jairam Ramesh in a statement accused the BJP government of making desperate attempts to doctor data on labour force participation rates of women.

"Never has economic data been doctored as it has been during the last decade of the non-biological Prime Minister," Ramesh alleged in a statement.

He said the latest example is the celebration of what is being hailed as the "phenomenal story" of the "steady surge" in the women's labour force participation ratio (LFPR) from 27 per cent in 2017/18 to 41.7 per cent in 2023/34.

"This is completely bogus. The increase in women's LFPR shown is primarily driven by rural women, whose entry into the labour force is driven by economic distress," he said.

This, the Congress leader said, is clear from the following: "The proportion of rural women engaged in self-employment has jumped sharply from 57.7% (2017-18) to 73.5% (2023-24) and self-employment has risen among urban women also, from 34.8% (2017-18) to 42.3% (2023-24)." He said the unpaid family work by rural and urban women has risen from 31.7% (2017-18) to 36.7% (2023-24).

"84% of the increase in the total women's LFPR between 2017-18 and 2023-24 is accounted for by self-employment, which includes unpaid family work," the Congress leader claimed.

Sharing a chart, Ramesh said it clearly illustrates the sharp decline in the quality of female jobs over the past decade.

"Any modernising economy undergoes structural transformation as workers move from low-paying agricultural jobs to better prospects in manufacturing and service industries," said Ramesh.

"This has tragically been reversed over the past decade. The proportion of rural women working in agriculture has increased from 73.2% (2017-18) to 76.9% (2023-24), and remains above what it was even during the pandemic," he added.

Meanwhile, the share of jobs in the modern services sector (health, education, IT etc.) for women has declined since 2021," Ramesh said in his statement.

He said after adjusting for inflation, the real average monthly wage of self-employed women plummeted by Rs 3,073 between 2017-18 and 2023-24, a drop of 35%.

"The real wage of salaried female workers fell by Rs 1,342, or a drop of 7%, over the same period. In short, women entering the workforce as either salaried workers or self-employed are earning less today than they did six years ago. This is the sad reality of Amrit Kaal," Ramesh alleged.

In ordinary circumstances, the Congress general secretary said that an increase in the women's LFPR would have been something to celebrate.

"But when it is driven by rural distress, when the quality of jobs has sharply deteriorated and the real wages of female workers across categories have fallen sharply according to the government's own data, this should be seen as nothing less than a tragedy and another failed jumla of the Modi government," he said.

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