The Kerala Knowledge Economy Mission has launched an intensive drive to ensure job offer letters to 1,000 women by March 8. The mission mode attempts will be carried out during January 2022 and February 2023. The campaign targets registered women, unregistered women with digital workforce management system. But in SC/ST categories, differently abled and transgender, looking for jobs in knowledge industry.
A senior official of the Knowledge Economy Mission said that the campaign will involve job seekers from all gram panchayats, municipalities and municipal corporations in the state and support from local bodies, various government departments as well as private job providers .
The Kerala Knowledge Economy Mission is driven by the Kerala Development and Innovation Strategic Council (K-DISC) and one of the most important components of the mission to transform Kerala into a knowledge-based economy is to provide 20 lakh jobs by 2026. There is an effort to provide employment in the private sector, keeping in view the aptitude and skills of the individuals.
A recent survey conducted by the Knowledge Economy Mission with the help of Kudumbashree Mission found that there are 53 lakh job seekers with plus two qualifications. Of these, 58% are women. Five lakh women with experience, who have lost their jobs due to various circumstances, are part of this group.
Female participation in work is 20.4% in 2018-19 while male participation is 55.6%. The Periodic Labor Force Survey during 2018-19 revealed that the unemployment level among educated males stood at 4.9% while among educated females the unemployment level was 17%. The unemployment rate among women with a postgraduate qualification was 34.3% while it was 6.6% among men.
Thirty-five percent of women who successfully completed the diploma course were unemployed. Among men, the rate was 9.4%. The widening gap in employment numbers between women and men is one of the key issues to be addressed by the Mission.