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Jobs & Career
Government to Survey Challenges Faced by Women‑Led Informal Enterprises
✍️ The Indian Express
🗓 27 Oct 2026, 04:38 AM
👁 35
The Ministry announced a study to identify hurdles confronting women‑run informal firms, citing the burden of unpaid domestic work.
New Delhi – The central government has launched a data‑collection drive aimed at mapping the specific difficulties faced by women‑led informal businesses across the country. The initiative, announced by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, seeks to capture how unpaid household responsibilities limit the growth and productivity of these enterprises.
Officials said the survey will cover a cross‑section of sectors such as street vending, home‑based manufacturing, and service provision, gathering information on credit access, market linkages, and regulatory hurdles. The findings are expected to inform policy measures, including targeted financial schemes and skill‑development programmes.
The move follows recent studies highlighting that women entrepreneurs often shoulder a disproportionate share of domestic chores, reducing the time they can devote to business activities. By quantifying these constraints, the government aims to design interventions that better support the informal sector’s substantial contribution to employment and GDP.
Stakeholders, including trade associations and NGOs working with women micro‑entrepreneurs, have welcomed the effort, urging swift implementation and transparent reporting of results.
The survey is slated to begin in the coming weeks, with preliminary results to be released later this year.
Officials said the survey will cover a cross‑section of sectors such as street vending, home‑based manufacturing, and service provision, gathering information on credit access, market linkages, and regulatory hurdles. The findings are expected to inform policy measures, including targeted financial schemes and skill‑development programmes.
The move follows recent studies highlighting that women entrepreneurs often shoulder a disproportionate share of domestic chores, reducing the time they can devote to business activities. By quantifying these constraints, the government aims to design interventions that better support the informal sector’s substantial contribution to employment and GDP.
Stakeholders, including trade associations and NGOs working with women micro‑entrepreneurs, have welcomed the effort, urging swift implementation and transparent reporting of results.
The survey is slated to begin in the coming weeks, with preliminary results to be released later this year.