Things are looking up for women in the job market across India. Down south, the Government of Karnataka has reserved 33 per cent of outsourced jobs in the state government for women. That means, 33 per cent of all outsourced jobs in all universities, urban local organisations, autonomous bodies and other government offices will be reserved for women.
These outsourced jobs across all departments comprise mainly of data entry operators, housekeeping staff, drivers and other Group D employees.
A circular was issued to this effect on 20 May, 2022, which said that women are as capable of performing well in outsourced jobs as men.
Of the about 7.2 lakh sanctioned posts, about 1.5 lakh are outsourced staff. Of these, about 50,000 posts will now be reserved for women candidates.
The circular directed senior officials to make sure the reservation policy is implemented.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the country, up North, in Jammu & Kashmir, the government has set a target of ensuring minimum 33 per cent representation of women in every field. The final objective is to achieve a 50-50 ratio of men to women. As part of this goal, the Union Territory will work to provide gender-sensitive work environment and infrastructure and offer improved medical facilities to women across all the departments of the administration.
Women in the UT are being encouraged to apply for jobs in the security forces and also appear for competitive exams for various gazetted and non-gazetted posts.