Hello and welcome to Business Daily with me, Manuela Saragossa.

Coming up in this edition, why aren't there more women in India's workforce?

We hear what's holding them back.

There is a mindset where women are not considered suitable for all kinds of jobs, then it is an uphill task

for women, no matter what happens.

And what India's working women have to say about it all.

I think women are realizing how important it is to be like independent.

Economic independence gets you a lot of independence in every possible way, I guess.

That and more,

all coming up here in Business Daily from the BBC. The share of women employed or seeking work in India is among the lowest in the world. Only 33% of women who can work in India work.

Compare that with the global average of about 50%. Yet experts constantly remind us that if you want a robust economy,

you've got to make sure women are a big part of it.

So what's holding Indian women back?

We'll be hearing from them in this edition as part of the BBC's India season.

It's noteworthy that India's working women tend to come edition as part of the BBC's India season. It's noteworthy that

India's working women tend to come from the extremes of the country's social spectrum. Poor women

work in large numbers, as do highly educated women. It's women in the middle of India's social

sector who are missing from the workforce. Let's hear first from the poorest. 35-year-old Begum. She's married and has six children, four girls and two boys.

We live in a slum. We have two tiny rooms upstairs and a barber shop downstairs.

At night we close the shop and me and my husband

and the two youngest children sleep on the floor.

One person working can only earn about $100 each month. One person working can only earn about $100

...