Participation of Women in Skilloriented Works: A Case Study of Patan Industrial Estate

Abstract

The contribution of women in social and economical activities is paramount still then,they have limited access and control to all kinds of resources including financialresources. They are lagging behind men in every aspect due to lack of education, lowincome and limited scope to income, though they are highly skilled. Women are found toengage in various sectors for their empowerment. Large numbers of women are beingemployed under Patan Industrial Estate. Their empowerment through skill orientedprograms was never been studied so, the place and the subject was chosen for the study. The objectives of the study were to identify the major skill oriented activities in PatanIndustrial Estate, to compare and analyze the involvement status of women in theseactivities in comparison to men, to analyze the posts or level of skills in women, tocompare their income and expenditure and to identify and examine the type of technicalprograms that couldbe effective to increase skills in women. To attain the above objectives primary data as well as secondary data were collected.The universes of 92 industries were taken and12 industries were selected randomly.From each industry 3 respondents were chosen for the collection of primary data. Datawere collected through field survey done by the mean of two sets of questionnaire; onefor the industrialists and the other for individual women employees. Observation wasdone with the help of check list. Otherdata used are obtained from secondary sourcessuch as FNCCI, Patan Industrial Estate, head office, etc. The analysis and interpretationof the data collected were done through descriptive and analytical methods withresources like computer using appropriate tools and techniques. After the data analysis it was found that there are various skill oriented works ratherthan programs in Patan Industrial Estate. Some of them were wood carving, furnituremaking, idols making, craft works, show piece preparation, coloring, packing in the vi industries, sales, etc. There are 108 industries within Patan Industrial Estate. 92 of themare functional, 13 closed and 3 registered and preparing to open. Major industries withinthis estate are metal related industries with various metal works and steel works, woodrelated industries, textiles, plastic related industries, handicrafts, confectionaries,electrical good supplies, concreted items, rubber and foam, etc. Comparatively lessernumbers of women are found in skill oriented activities as well as other activities withinin the estate.Women are found working in major percentage in the lower posts, very fewbeen identical posts allocated for them. Most of them were found paid on salary basis butfew were still being paid in wages system. The income of the respondents ranged from Rs.2500 to Rs. 12000 per month and expenditure range from Rs. 2000 to Rs. 10000permonth. The range of expenditure fell within the income range; their salary was found tobe lesser than the expecting expenditures. Employees were facing several problems,irregularity of the workers, first aid, load shedding, lack of proper schemes fromgovernment, and lack of monitoring were some of them. Similarly employees had theirown areas of problems. According to their stating, low level of salary, new healthhazards, lack of incentives, lack of motivation, poor selection procedure, poormanagement etc. were their major problems. The study concludes that there are no specified programs for women to increase the skillsthrough skill oriented programs within in the estate though several programs are goingon. The involvement of women was comparative to men but the levels they were workingwere lower than men. Their income ranges varied from industry to industry, so was theirexpenditure. There are several areas of technical help that could be effective to increaseskills in women. It is highly recommended that if proper rules and regulations are formedbetter scopes are there. Thus Patan Industrial Estate has empowered a large number of women and helped todevelop the status of Nepalese women. This can further be paid attention and made betteropportunity for the development of women.