Skip to main content

Gujarat's 8% females employable; it's 31% in Rajasthan, 17% in West Bengal, 15% in UP

By Rajiv Shah
A new Government of India (GoI)-supported report, prepared by Wheebox, an online talent assessment company, in alliance with the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has found that just about 8% of Gujarat’s female workforce is employable in as against 31% in Rajasthan, 23% in Andhra Pradesh, 21% in Karnataka and 20% in Telangana.
Even the so-called Bimaru state Uttar Pradesh with 16% employable female workforce ranks better than Gujarat, finds the report, which gives details of top ten states. Maharashtra’s 18%, West Bengal’s 17% , Haryana’s 15% and Tamil Nadu’s 11% female workforce is found to be employable in industries, says “India Skills Report 2017”, whose academic partner is GoI’s All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
Prepared in order to tell industry leaders where to get the male and female talent they have been needing in order to keep their enterprises running, the report claims to be based on a sample size of 5.6 lakh final students cutting across different disciplines in 29 Indian states and seven union territories. Though it is a special section of females, interestingly, the report does not say what is its female sample size.
Further, the report does not find any of Gujarat’s cities in the top 10 cities with employable female workforce. Here, Kolkata tops the list at 73.13%, followed by New Delhi 65.96%, Udaipur 62.18%, Dhule 64.54%, Pune at 60.08%, Tonk 57.87%, Sholapur 55.39%, Tipurpati 54.51, Hyderabad 52.77%, Mysore 51.83%, and Nashik 49.17%.
Pointing out that Bengaluru at 45% and Lucknow 39% have employable female workforce, the report states, while colleges located in Tier 1 cities provide better exposure to students, what is noteworthy is that “even with limited resources and average education facilities the youth in tier 2 and tier 3 cities is empowered and is performing better than its peer.”
Pointing out that “Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan are the top states preferred by females, whereas Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh are the top states preferred by males”, the report says, “With nearly 80% of the employable female population coming from tier 2 and tier 3 cities, their preference is cities like Bangalore, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad etc.”, which is not surprising.
The report states, “Sectorwise data show that, of 11 the sectors covered as part of the survey, hardly half of the sectors have 30% of their workforce as women”, adding, “38% of post graduate women are job market ready, whereas in case of graduation, this percentage is 45%, but these numbers do not find uniform reflection in the hiring strategy.”
The report says, “Women constitute more than 50% of the workforce in Sectors like E-commerce and Retail, manufacturing and engineering have less than 25% of females in their workforce whereas for Sectors like BFSI and BFS, BPO, ITES this percentage is restricted to 25.”

Comments

Anonymous said…
Gujarati males are earning more, they don’t like to send their wives for work. In the passed out graduates searching for jobs, females numbers overlooked because the culture is different. Women in India go for work (other than agriculture and animal husbandry in villages) only when the family is in crisis. It is our happiness index.
Anonymous said…
Shame

TRENDING

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

CFA flags ‘welfare retreat’ in Union Budget 2026–27, alleges corporate bias

By Jag Jivan  The advocacy group Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA) has sharply criticised the Union Budget 2026–27 , calling it a “budget sans kartavya” that weakens public welfare while favouring private corporations, even as inequality, climate risks and social distress deepen across the country.

From water scarcity to sustainable livelihoods: The turnaround of Salaiya Maaf

By Bharat Dogra   We were sitting at a central place in Salaiya Maaf village, located in Mahoba district of Uttar Pradesh, for a group discussion when an elderly woman said in an emotional voice, “It is so good that you people came. Land on which nothing grew can now produce good crops.”

When free trade meets unequal fields: The India–US agriculture question

By Vikas Meshram   The proposed trade agreement between India and the United States has triggered intense debate across the country. This agreement is not merely an attempt to expand bilateral trade; it is directly linked to Indian agriculture, the rural economy, democratic processes, and global geopolitics. Free trade agreements (FTAs) may appear attractive on the surface, but the political economy and social consequences behind them are often unequal and controversial. Once again, a fundamental question has surfaced: who will benefit from this agreement, and who will pay its price?

Penpa Tsering’s leadership and record under scrutiny amidst Tibetan exile elections

By Tseten Lhundup*  Within the Tibetan exile community, Penpa Tsering is often described as having risen through grassroots engagement. Born in 1967, he comes from an ordinary Tibetan family, pursued higher education at Delhi University in India, and went on to serve as Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile from 2008 to 2016. In 2021, he was elected Sikyong of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), becoming the second democratically elected political leader of the administration after Lobsang Sangay. 

From Puri to the State: How Odisha turned the dream of drinkable tap water into policy

By Hans Harelimana Hirwa, Mansee Bal Bhargava   Drinking water directly from the tap is generally associated with developed countries where it is considered safe and potable. Only about 50 countries around the world offer drinkable tap water, with the majority located in Europe and North America, and a few in Asia and Oceania. Iceland, Switzerland, Finland, Germany, and Singapore have the highest-quality tap water, followed by Canada, New Zealand, Japan, the USA, Australia, the UK, Costa Rica, and Chile.

Territorial greed of Trump, Xi Jinping, and Putin could make 2026 toxic

By N.S. Venkataraman*  The year 2025 closed with bloody conflicts across nations and groups, while the United Nations continued to appear ineffective—reduced to a debate forum with little impact on global peace and harmony.  

Mark Tully: The voice that humanised India, yet soft-pedalled Hindutva

By Harsh Thakor*  Sir Mark Tully, the British broadcaster whose voice pierced the fog of Indian history like a monsoon rain, died on January 25, 2026, at 90, leaving behind a legacy that reshaped investigative journalism. Born in the fading twilight of the Raj in 1935, in Tollygunge, Calcutta, Tully's life was a bridge between empires and republics, a testament to how one man's curiosity could humanize a nation's chaos. 

Michael Parenti: Scholar known for critiques of capitalism and U.S. foreign policy

By Harsh Thakor*  Michael Parenti, an American political scientist, historian, and author known for his Marxist and anti-imperialist perspectives, died on January 24 at the age of 92. Over several decades, Parenti wrote and lectured extensively on issues of capitalism, imperialism, democracy, media, and U.S. foreign policy. His work consistently challenged dominant political and economic narratives, particularly those associated with Western liberal democracies and global capitalism.