In UP women won’t work after 7pm: In Uttar Pradesh, no female worker shall be bound to work without her written consent before 6 am and after 7 pm, the Yogi Adityanath government has said. Female workers will also be provided free transportation, food and sufficient supervision if they are working during the aforementioned hours. No women worker shall be terminated The new rule is an amendment to the Factories Act, 1948, to protect women employees from incidents of sexual harassment at workplace. It is applicable in both government and private sectors.
New order and guidelines for working women in Uttar Pradesh
- No Woman worker shall be bound to work without her written consent before 06:00 AM and after 07:00 PM.
- No Woman worker shall be terminated from her employment if she denies working between 07:00 PM to 06:00 AM.
- Women workers working between 07:00 PM to 06:00 AM shall be provided free transportation from their residence to the workplace by the employer of the factory and back.
- Women workers working between 07:00 PM to 06:00 AM shall be provided food by the employer of the factory.
- Women workers working between 07:00 PM to 06:00 AM shall be provided sufficient supervision during working hours and journey thereof.
- The employer shall ensure toilets, washrooms, changing-room, drinking facilities and lights near the workplace.
- During the working between 07:00 PM to 06:00 AM, not less than four women workers shall be allowed to work in the premises or a particular department.
- The employer shall intimate the arrangement proposed by him in connection to the employment of female workers to the Inspector of factories of the region concerned, for verification, affording him a maximum period of seven days for such verification.
- The employer shall send a monthly report electronically or otherwise to the Inspector of factories of the region concerned about the details of women workers engaged during the night shift and shall also send an express report whenever there is some untoward incident to the Inspector of factories of the region concerned, and local Police Station as well.
- The Inspector of factories shall enforce the safe working conditions of women workers and carefully take note of the non-compliance in their inspection from time to time.
- The employer shall take appropriate steps to prevent sexual harassment. The employer shall maintain a complaint mechanism in the factory itself as prescribed in the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 or in any other related enactments.
- The women worker shall be made aware of their rights in particular by prominently displaying the guideline as may be required.
- Permission shall be deemed cancelled automatically on violation of any conditions prescribed above by the employer of the factory.
Other initiatives for women by UP Government
The BJP government of Yogi Adityanath earlier proposed Rs.75.50 crore for a women empowerment scheme. The state administration has recommended establishing cyber support desks for women at the district level.
Under the Mission Shakti initiative in the micro and small scale industries sector, an allocation of Rs.20 crore has been recommended for women’s safety, empowerment, and skill development.
National Family Health Survey Report
According to the latest edition of the National Family Health Survey Report, there are three times as many males as females employed in India’s 15-49 age group, a stubborn gender imbalance that has remained largely unchanged over the last five years.
The states with the lowest percentage of working women include Bihar (14 percent), Uttar Pradesh (17 percent), and Assam (18 percent). More than a third of women were employed in a few states: Karnataka (35 percent), Andhra Pradesh (37 percent), Telangana (39 percent), Manipur (40 percent), and Meghalaya (42 percent).