New policy, separate allocation to help women start own businesses

New Delhi: In an internal survey aimed at framing a policy to include more women in the Capital's workforce, the Delhi government found that 37 per cent of the women polled did not want to work before the pandemic but were actively looking for employment now. The Delhi government has now set aside funds exclusively to find employment for these women under the Higher Education category of the Education expenditure.

Having found that such a large number of women who earlier did not want to work but had changed their mind after the pandemic, the government is set to launch a new project intended to help the women earn a livelihood. The programme is tentatively going to be a six-month-long engagement with job-seekers and may be stretched out depending on the response.

A government official involved in the project told Millennium Post that the project — a combination of skilling and mentoring — is in the planning stage and will be launched soon. The programme will be launched in collaboration with Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women (IGDTUW).

Women will receive short skills education and basic business knowledge which will allow them to enter the workforce. Following that they will receive handholding support from students of IGDTUW for the next few months, to help them set up their own enterprises. "The programme will be in two stages — in the first stage women will enroll in a short skilling course and in the second the government is going to provide them with mentoring, solidarity groups and support in setting up small enterprises," the official said.

Delhi government is aiming to set up this programme so that women receive skills, mentoring and guidance through every step to becoming financially independent. "This, in turn, should help increase their agency within their families and communities," the official added.