Health Minister Veena George has said that the government has a responsibility to bring women who had to leave their jobs due to various reasons back to work.
The Women and Child Development department will offer all support for the activities of the Knowledge Economy Mission in this regard, the Minister said. She was speaking after inaugurating a workshop organised here on Tuesday as part of the second phase of the Back to Work project of the mission for women.
“Kerala is the best in the country in the advancement of women in the labour sector, but the government’s view is that more women should enter the labour sector. Girls are the majority in the professional and higher education sector. But when it comes to the workforce, women are underrepresented. It is also a reality that a large majority of women working in private and corporate organisations have had a career break. This is where the intervention of the Knowledge Economy Mission is laudable,” she said.
Skill training
The Minister said that women who had a career break will be given skill training. Activities will be organised to instil confidence in them and to bring them back to employment.
After finding that there are about 5,00,000 women who are unable to join despite getting a job or had to quit, the mission conducted a survey among women who had a career break. In the survey, it was found that marriage and responsibilities at home were the main reasons for women leaving their jobs. As many as 96.5% of those surveyed expressed a desire to return to work. It also found that 79.1% needed support to return to work. On the basis of this, the Back to Work project was launched.
Second phase
The first phase of the project was successfully completed. The second phase began in December 2023 covering Technopark, Infopark, and Cyberpark and the regions where these parks are located. The second phase of the project will be completed by March 2024.
Director of Knowledge Economy Mission P.S. Sreekala presided over the function.
