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May 28, 2026What Kerala’s New Government Must Prioritise for Women?
The article examines the gap between Kerala’s welfare-oriented interventions for women and the persistent structural barriers affecting women’s political representation, labour force participation, institutional support, and economic agency.
Drawing on recent election outcomes, policy developments, and research evidence, the article argues that the incoming government has an opportunity to move beyond welfare delivery toward structural reforms, including revisiting gender-restrictive employment laws, expanding childcare infrastructure, strengthening women’s safety institutions, and adopting outcome-based gender budgeting.
The Kerala 2026 Assembly elections are over, and with 102 seats, the new government has been sworn in. Yet, one familiar statistic remains unchanged. The Assembly elections fielded 92 female candidates out of a total of 863 candidates, and the new Assembly has only 11 women MLAs. Despite Kerala’s high social development indicators and long history of women’s mobilisation, women continue to remain under-represented in the Legislative Assembly.
Over the past decade, the government introduced several schemes and institutional measures aimed at supporting women. Initiatives such as the creation of a separate Department of Women and Child Development in 2017, the strengthening of Kudumbashree, the Pink Protection Project, She Lodges, and women’s security pensions giving Rs 1000 every month, and increased gender budgeting allocations reflected an attempt to combine welfare support with empowerment objectives. These interventions undoubtedly contributed to reducing poverty and expanded access to social support systems for women.
However, significant structural gaps persist. As scholar J. Devika has argued, Kudumbashree has often “feminised poverty management” by placing the burden of managing scarcity on women without challenging the systems that produce it. NCRB data show crimes against women climbing while conviction rates remain stubbornly low. Female labour force participation hovers between 25 and 30 per cent, only marginally above the national average. Kerala has built collective-mobilisation platforms like Kudumbashree and the National Health Mission, but the gains have not translated into individual economic agency, better-paying jobs, leadership in the private sector, or asset ownership.
The incoming government has an opportunity to move from welfare delivery to structural empowerment. Four priorities deserve immediate attention.
What should the incoming government do?
The incoming government, therefore, has an opportunity to move beyond welfare-oriented interventions and address long-standing institutional and legal barriers for improving female labour force participation.
1. Remove Gender-Restrictive Employment Laws
One important area requiring urgent attention is the removal of gender-restrictive employment laws. Kerala continues to retain provisions that restrict women from working night shifts in factories and prohibit their employment in manufacturing activities categorised as hazardous under the Kerala Factories Rules, 1957. The draft rules brought by Kerala under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code 2020, they also continue to retain restrictions on women’s participation in certain manufacturing activities.
Similarly, restrictive provisions continue to exist within excise laws. Although the High Court struck down restrictions preventing women from working in FL-3 licensed hotels, several provisions continue to discourage employers from recruiting women. For instance, Condition 17 under Form FL-11 licences in the Kerala Foreign Liquor Rules states that no woman can be employed in a beer or wine parlour unless she herself is the licensee. The provision is internally contradictory and reflects outdated assumptions about women’s place in public spaces. Removing such rules is a no-cost reform with measurable returns.
2. Affordable Child Care
Another major concern is the lack of affordable childcare infrastructure in urban areas. Urban female labour force participation in Kerala remains lower than in rural areas, and childcare responsibilities continue to be a major factor discouraging women from entering or re-entering the workforce. Expanding affordable childcare services and crèche facilities can significantly improve women’s ability to continue employment after maternity and reduce the burden of unpaid care work.
3. Strengthening Women Safety Institutions
Institutional support mechanisms for survivors of domestic violence also require strengthening. Women Protection Officers appointed under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, serve as a critical institutional mechanism for supporting survivors. However, their effectiveness is often constrained by inadequate staffing, insufficient resources, and lack of training. A recent study by the Centre for Public Policy Research highlighted that Protection Officers frequently work overtime to meet court deadlines related to submissions and evidence collection while handling an average of 40 to 50 cases each month. With most officers stationed at the district headquarters, survivors in peripheral areas are effectively cut off.
Further, as highlighted in the recent study conducted by CPPR, Kerala’s women safety institutions, including One Stop Centres and Women Protection Officer systems, currently lack robust feedback mechanisms to assess the quality and effectiveness of services provided to survivors. Without survivor feedback, accountability remains a paper exercise. Incorporating structured feedback systems and reviewing these findings during monitoring meetings could improve institutional accountability and responsiveness.
The government must also revive funding for hospital-based Bhoomika Centres. Previously funded under the National Health Mission, these centres have reportedly not received funding for the past three years, disrupting their operations. Located within hospitals, Bhoomika Centres have proved to be more accessible and effective than One Stop Centres (OSCs) operating independently outside hospital premises. Research by CEHAT has shown that women facing domestic violence are more likely to approach hospitals for support than other institutions. Expanding Bhoomika Centres to Taluk hospitals could significantly improve access for survivors across the state.
4. Revisiting the Gender Budgeting Framework
Finally, Kerala must rethink its approach to gender budgeting. Increased allocations alone cannot be treated as indicators of empowerment. The state should adopt an outcome and impact-based framework to evaluate whether gender budget allocations actually reduce women’s time poverty, improve workforce participation, strengthen economic independence, and enhance decision-making agency. Gender budgeting must evolve beyond an accounting exercise into a tool for measuring transformative change.
The road ahead
That a state ranking first in literacy and higher education enrolment can elect only 11 women out of 140 MLAs is not just a representation problem. It is the reflection of a structural ceiling that successive governments have left intact. The new government inherits a strong welfare foundation. The work ahead is to convert that foundation into freedom, agency, and economic dignity. Kerala’s next decade should be measured not in schemes announced or allocations made, but in the lives those schemes actually transform.
Anu Maria Francis is a Senior Associate, Research and Project Management at the Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR).
Views expressed by the authors are personal and need not reflect or represent the views of the Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR).
Anu Maria Francis is an Associate, Research at Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR). She completed her graduation in Law from National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kochi. She has worked as UPSC exam trainer and mentor with many coaching institutions in Kerala. She has also interned with a couple of organisations like Kerala State Information Commission, ACTIONAID India, Ceat Tyres Ltd, Biocon Pharma Ltd, Khaitan and Co Law Firm etc. Her academic interests pertain to legal and governance issues and education. She also has experience in handling business ventures.
