In the backdrop of an overall depression in the domestic job market, the Economic Survey said employment of women in the organised sector marked a marginal increase of 0.5 per cent over the previous years at 4.9 million on March 2001.

The distribution of women employees across industries revealed that community, social and personnel services sectors employed 55.6 per cent of women workers followed by manufacturing at 20.7 per cent, agriculture and allied occupations at 10.9 per cent and finance, insurance, real estate and business at 4.7 per cent.

The provisional results of the Census 2001 also showed a moderate rise of Female Work Participation Rate to 25.6 per cent which was up from 22.3 in 1991 against 51.6 for males, the survey said.

In 2001, the gender gap in work participation was maximum at 48 for Daman and Diu while it ranged between 41-43 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh and Delhi. The gender gap was minimum for Manipur at eight.

In another significant development, the number of working children in the country almost halved to 3.59 per cent in 1991 from six per cent of the total workforce in 1981.

The number of working children declined to 1.34 per cent of the total population in 1991 from two per cent in 1981.

However, children continued to be employed in the unorganised and home-based industries and domestic services.

Andhra Pradesh had the highest number of child labour population followed by Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh as states having a child labour population of more than one million as per 1991 census.

PTI