Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Opportunities for Rural Women

 Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Opportunities for Rural Women 

 

Participation of rural women in workforce

is significant for economic development of the country (MoSPI, 2017). For this, capacity building and development of skills would be crucial for creating better livelihood opportunities for rural women.


 As per Invest India (2022), effective awareness generation campaigns are required to bridge the gap between the available options for vocational education and skill training.


 These awareness campaigns may encourage rural women to opt for non-traditional professions such as information and communication technology (ICT).



Several inter-ministerial initiatives 

of Government of India are focused on promoting women farmers to enhance their livelihood, social and economic gains. 


The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare and Ministry of Rural Development have been encouraging the participation of rural women farmer through various schemes.  


The Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP)

is one of the major initiatives for skilling rural women farmers. 


MKSP was introduced as a sub component of DAY-NRLM (Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana — National Rural Livelihoods Mission) by the Ministry of Rural Development.


 It is implemented through State Rural Livelihoods Mission (SRLM) across India. 


Under DAY-NRLM scheme, trainings on use of latest agricultural techniques, agro-ecological best practices, etc. are being imparted to women farmers through community resource persons and extension agencies. 


Under DAY-NRLM, about 58,295 Krishi Sakhi were trained by 735 State Level Resource Persons (Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, 2021a). 


 Skill training courses in agriculture and allied areas 

(of minimum 200 hours duration) are conducted for farmers including women farmers through 

  • National Training Institutes,
  •  State Agricultural Management and Extension Training (SAMETIs), 
  • Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs)
  •  and State Agricultural Universities (SAUs), across the country. 


Apart from these, women farmer specific training programmes


on topics like

  • household food security by kitchen gardening and nutrition gardening; 

  • design and development of low/minimum cost diet; 

  • designing and development for high nutrient efficiency diet;

  •  minimisation of nutrient loss in processing; 

  • processing and cooking; 

  • rural crafts, etc. are organised through extension bodies (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, 2021).  


 community level awareness on women-oriented programmes 


With the engagement of Farmers Producer Organisation (FPO) and women Self-Help Groups (SHG), community level awareness on women-oriented programmes is reaching out to remote rural regions. 



Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) 


implemented by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship provides several short duration skill training programmes for rural youth and women to earn their livelihood. 



Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETI) 


Sixty-six per cent of total trained candidates under the Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETI) programme are women. 


The RSETI provides several skill trainings 


  • on making of homemade incense sticks (Agarbatti), 
  • soft toys, 
  • papad,
  •  pickle, 
  • masala powder, 
  • beauty parlour management 
  • and costume jewellery, etc. 


Under the RSETI scheme, 10 training courses out of the total 64 are exclusively for women candidates. 


Under this programme, about 26.28 lakh women candidates have been trained since inception (Ministry of Rural Development, 2022a).



 

Several projects aimed to generate entrepreneurship opportunities for rural women 


are being undertaken by the Government of India. 


The Start-Up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP)


 implemented under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) provides 

  • self-employment opportunities, 
  • financial assistance and 
  • training to create local community enterprises. 

  • Under SVEP, about 75 percent of the enterprises are owned and managed by women (Ministry of Rural Development, 2022).


Also, a nationwide placement-linked skill training program 


  • for rural youth was initiated as Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY). 

  • The Mahila Shakti Kendra (MSK) developed by Ministry of Women and Child development has empowered rural women through community participation and raising awareness on girl education, maternal care, health, etc.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
  The Free Trade Agreement with New Zealand reflects India’s evolving trade diplomacy strategy India concluded a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with New Zealand   DATE OF STATRT  in December 2025, at a time marked by fractured supply chains and rising protectionist tendencies among nations. Guided by the vision of “Viksit Bharat”,  India has recalibrated its foreign trade policy, transitioning from a cautious, tariff-focused negotiator to a strategic, high-velocity partner.  Viksit Bharat (Developed India) 2047 is the Government of India's comprehensive vision to transform the nation into a fully developed, self-reliant, and prosperous country by its 100th anniversary of independence in 2047 . It focuses on economic growth, sustainable infrastructure, social inclusion, and good governance, with an aim to achieve a USD 30–40 trillion economy. There are six key wins for India   in this FTA, as it aligns with the Viksit Bharat blueprint for trade policy based on ...
Read more

Karnataka govt. unveils digital grievance portal for gig workers

Image
  In a first, Karnataka govt.  unveils digital grievance  portal for gig workers In this article -  Who are Gig workers  ? WHY IN NEWS -  Integrated Public Grievance Redressal System (IPGRS) portal Transparency -  WHAT THEY CAN DO ? gig workers can now officially Internal Dispute Resolution Committee (IDRC)  Challenges for Gig Workers How Is India Addressing the Challenges of the Gig Economy? Who are Gig workers  ?  Definition: The Code on Social Security, 2020,  defines a gig worker as a person who works outside a traditional employer-employee relationship.  Types : platform and non-platform-based workers. Platform workers  are those whose work is based on online apps or digital platforms. E.g., Ola, Uber, Zomato, Swiggy, Urban Company, etc. Non-platform gig workers  are generally casual wage workers and own account workers in the conventional sectors, working part-time or full time. Reasons for growth:  Demogra...
Read more
Image
  India’s first and deepest geothermal wells at Puga Valley in Ladakh Subject:  Policy and Science & Technology Why in the news? In a move towards the Clean India mission, the country’s  first and deepest two geothermal wells (1,000 m) at Puga Valley in Ladakh  were inaugurated by Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on 17th July.  Executed by the   Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Energy Centre, this marks a major milestone towards PM’s vision of  Carbon-Neutral Ladakh  and towards setting up India’s first geothermal power project. Key takeaways: 1. The two geothermal wells are   critical for the successful implementation of the 1 MW pilot geothermal power project at Puga, which will be India’s first demonstration-scale geothermal power project.  These two wells at 1000-meter-deep are commissioned at the height of over 14,000 feet.  Created using AI 2.  National Policy on Geothermal Energy 2025 To utilize the thermal energy...
Read more