Economic growth and technological advancement in India in the current decade has been increasing. Technology, market and development are considered gender-neutral. But there is pronounced urban bias and rural neglect in the development process of India. Nevertheless, modernization of the economy or advancement of the society is a semi-myth for village women.
1,266,883,598 people currently live in India. Women comprise 48.5% of the population. This gender population gap starts at birth. For every 100 boys born nationally, 89 girls are born. The gender gap fluctuates across India.
The gender division of labour within the rural household has remained culturally stubborn. Women as a class are oppressed and subdued by the hegemony of social patriarchy. Economic growth has failed to improve the situation either. Rather technology and labour market imperfections have accentuated the concentration of women in domestic works with non-market roles and activities, generating a new process of ‘house wifisation’, not ‘feminization of jobs’ in the rural sector.
Women’s labour force in India will add 37 million people to its labour force in the next 10 years, including youth entering the workforce. Over the next 40 years, India is projected to add 424 million working-age adults.If India can increase women’s labour force participation by 10 percentage points (68 million more women) by 2025, India could increase its 16% GDP.
The optimistic approach about the future economic developments in rural areas, results in, expanding the business ventures here. The vast availability of resources, lower infrastructure costs, salary levels and low attrition rate make rural a suitable business scheme. It is economically better for factories/industries to set up in the remote area as it is expensive to buy land in cities which will in turn benefit the consumers by declining the cost of production and it would boost the labor market.
Gradually the trend has changed to resemble the consumption patterns of the cities. Rural India provides a large and attractive investment opportunity for private enterprises. People need to refresh their skills which help them in long run. Using technology to disseminate the information about the emerging industry sectors, to give them education facilities, skilling and employment opportunities, our platform, ‘Youth4work.com’ has taken initiative to impact rural youth/people through ‘IFFCO Yuva’, a tie-up with IFFCO. On Youth4work.com’, people from all over 1300 locations across India ranked and profiled. People from rural India are about 45% whereas only 33% of the total job opportunities are available.
Rachit Jain, a young entrepreneur and Founder & CEO of Youth4work.com’ said, “We know talent is everywhere across India, but there’s no single window to showcase it and to provide and hunt the capabilities in rural people to give them a platform to prove their competencies and improve them to level up with global standards. All local and global companies can explore this large rural talent pool and extend their career opportunities.”
