58% Of Establishments Were Headed By Women In 2023-24: Survey

A survey results on Wednesday showed that about 58% of the establishments were headed by female stakeholders in the manufacturing sector in 2023-24. Notably, this is an increase of 4 percentage points from the previous year.

The results of the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) 2023-24 reveal that females constituted 28.1 percent of all the workers during the year.

Moreover, female workers form a significant share of OAEs (Won account enterprises)as they constitute a third portion of the total workforce of OAEs. In OAEs, the female workforce forms 33.7%

Establishments headed by female proprietors have surged to 26.2 percent in 2023-24 from 22.9 percent in 2022-23. Notably, this share for other sectors has reached 14.2 percent from 9.7 percent in a period of a year.

The manufacturing sector saw the highest participation of female workers at 46.5 percent. Other services and trade stood at second and third respectively with 22.5 percent and 19.21 percent.

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If we analyze the data, seeing the performance of Indian states, West Bengal has the highest share of female workers at 12.7 percent, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 10.4 percent and Maharashtra with 9.7 percent in ASUSE 2023-24.

West Bengal employed the highest share of rural female workers with 16% while Maharashtra offered opportunities to female workers of urban sectors majorly with 13 percent.

The report shows, at all India levels, that one out of four proprietary establishments were owned by women.

The unincorporated non-agricultural sector plays a crucial role in the economy, due to its ability to absorb a large portion of the country’s workforce and its ability to provide job opportunities to a diverse range of people and also for its contribution to the country’s GDP.

Unincorporated nonfar establishments are those neither registered under the Companies Act 1956 nor under the 2013 Act.