Industry leaders and government officials in Rajasthan on 25 June called for coordinated, multi-stakeholder action to raise women's participation in formal employment, warning that the state's target of becoming a $350 billion economy by 2030 cannot be achieved without substantially closing the gender gap in the labour market. The observations emerged at an Industry Roundtable on 'Advancing Women's Participation in Formal Employment' held in Jaipur.

Key Developments at the Roundtable

The consultation brought together representatives from industry, government, and workforce development organisations to examine barriers spanning safety, mobility, skilling, and workplace inclusion. Rajkumar Meena, Joint Director at the Rajasthan Directorate of Employment, noted that shifting social perceptions, combined with active policy intervention, were beginning to open new doors for women across sectors.

'Perceptions about women in the workforce are changing over time. The government has introduced several policy and legal measures that are helping increase women's participation across industries,' Meena said.

He specifically cited provisions for women's safety during night shifts under the labour code, as well as ongoing job fairs, as measures that would strengthen women's pathways into formal employment and economic empowerment.

Social and Cultural Barriers Remain a Core Challenge

Rishav Mandal, Managing Director of the Rajasthan Skill and Livelihood Development Corporation (RSLDC), acknowledged that entrenched social and cultural barriers continued to restrict employment choices for women in the state.

'As Rajasthan advances towards its development goals, increasing women's participation in formal employment will require us to address not only skill and employment gaps, but also the social and cultural barriers that often limit women's choices,' Mandal said.

This comes amid broader national data showing that India's female labour force participation rate, while gradually rising, remains among the lower tiers in comparable emerging economies — making state-level interventions like this roundtable particularly significant.

What the SheWorks Initiative Aims to Do

The roundtable also spotlighted the SheWorks initiative, implemented by IPE Global in partnership with RSLDC. The programme aims to strengthen pathways from skilling to paid employment through deeper industry engagement and improved labour market linkages, with a focus on hiring, workplace inclusion, career progression, and retention of women employees.

Rekha Menon, Women's Economic Liberty Lead at IPE Global, argued that women's formal employment was not a peripheral concern but central to the state's growth trajectory.

'Women's participation is central to the state's growth ambitions. Increasing women's participation in formal employment requires collective action to address barriers related to mobility, workplace safety and social norms, and create an enabling ecosystem where more women can access and thrive in quality jobs,' Menon said.

What Comes Next

The roundtable is expected to feed into broader policy discussions as Rajasthan works toward its 2030 economic targets. Officials indicated that job fairs and labour code provisions would be actively leveraged in the near term, while longer-term outcomes will depend on sustained industry commitment to inclusive hiring and retention practices. Whether the momentum from this consultation translates into measurable gains in women's formal employment will be a key indicator for the state's development agenda.