Introduction The work participation rate among females has always been low in India because of the traditional view of women basically involved in domestic duties and care activities. The data from National Sample Survey supports the argument of declining rate of female participation since 1993-94; indicates that the conditions of labour market under liberalization has not proved conducive for female workers. There was a general trend toward falling WPR among females considered as positive development by some scholars on account of rise in level of income and the education level. But there are also views about the fall in FWPR that marginalizes women in the development process by denying enough work opportunities for females in the labour market. The consistent trends of declining workforce and labour force participation raise various doubts when one observe the last three rounds of data (2004-05, 2009-10 and 2011-12).