Value of collecting firewood.

Labor force participation rate (LFPR) "is the percentage of our working age population engaged in work or making tangible efforts to seek 'work' or being available for 'work' if it is available," wrote V Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India, and Harish Kumar Kallega & Deeksha Supyaal Bisht, Indian Economic Service Officers. "The LFPR declined between 1999 and 2011-12 from 40% to 30% and has risen from 2017-18 to 2020-21." So it should be above 30%. However, female LFPR in India was 20.3% in 2021. World Bank. The female LFPR "in India has been falling steeply in the last two decades - from about 30.5% in 2000 to 21.1% in 2019 (pre-pandemic) and 18.6% in 2020 (post-pandemic) as per ILO estimates." FE. In July, "Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) deputy governor Dr Michael Debabrata Patra stated that the female workforce participation in India is among the lowest in the world and continues to fall. India stands lower than even Pakistan." India Times. A dubious honor, indeed. "According to the Union Budget 2022" the female LFPR "in India was at 19% in 2020 from over 26% in 2005, even lower than in Bangladesh (35%) and Sri Lanka (31%)." So many figures, all different. No doubt the authors have a handful of PhDs among them and have access to government resources. They should carry out a thorough survey and publish honest figures which can then be used to guide economic policies. What is work? " 'Work includes self-employment (subsistence agriculture and collection of firewood, poultry farming, etc, for self consumption), regular wage-salaried employment, and casual labor." As well as "women's unpaid domestic labor, which can be seen as expenditure-saving work such as collecting firewood, cooking, tutoring children, etc, and contributes significantly to the household's standard of living." "The central government has disbursed 8.05 million deposit free cooking gas connections this financial year (2020-21) until December 1. These connections have been distributed under the second leg of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY)." BS. If collecting firewood is defined as profitable work then millions of women have been rendered unemployed by the PMUY scheme. Moreover, firewood is free but refilling a gas cylinder costs in excess of Rs 1000, goodreturns.in, so the "household's standard of living" has taken a significant hit. "About 200,000 Indians die every year due to inadequate access to safe water,...the government think tank Niti Aayog said." Reuters. "On an average, a rural woman walks 5 kilometers to 20 kilometers a day just to fetch water, according to estimates by campaigners." Thus adding to household wealth by saving on medical bills. The government's Jal Jeevan Mission is to provide piped water to every household, BS, rendering millions of women unemployed and reducing their standard of living. Government officers must serve the people. Not as megaphones for government propaganda. So sad.