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| Over 50 lakh working women in organised sector | | Agility! Thy name is woman | | BL KAK
NEW DELHI, JAN. 22
With women constituting more than 48 per cent of India's population, the government has termed the softer sex as the "precious human resource of our country". And the Union Labour Ministry's pronouncement: India's development as a whole is "deeply intertwined with the development and empowerment of women".
According to statistics available with the Ministry of Labour, there are more than 50.69 lakh working women in the organised sector in India. Of these, nearly 6 lakh women are in Central government service. States and various bodies under the control of local governments emply about 17 lakh women. The number of working women in local bodies has been put at 6 lakh. Private sector and smaller establishments across the cousntry employ about 18 lakh and 3 lakh women respectively.
The government has admitted that one of the main dificulties faced by Indian working women has been the lack of suitable and safe accommodation in a healthy and wholesome environment. Approved by the Expenditure Finance Committee on May 22, 1972, a scheme of assistance for construction and expansion of hostel building, which is in operation since then, has been modified from time to time to widen its scope and to make changes consistent with the socio-economic transition in the society. The Ministry of Women and Child Development, the nodal Ministry implementing this scheme, informed EARLY TIMES that he scheme initially was restricted to cities and towns having a population of 10 lakh and above.
The scheme was subsequently modified by amending such limits. Similarly, single working womenj with in come of Rs 600 per month were eligible for hostel accommodation. The income limit was enhanced with the increase in the income levels and, at present, it is Rs 16,000 per month in 'A' class cities and Rs 15,000 per month in other cities, and towns. However, parliamentary committee on empowerment of women, in its 10th report, has regretted that he scheme has not achieved its slated objectives. The scheme, according to the report, is not being implemented in the right perspective as the hostels were not functioning as per the stated norms.
The parliamentary panel has come down heavily on the government for its (government's) indiference towards "such a vital issue concerning women". Since the inception of the scheme in 1972-73, only 873 hostels have been sanctioned. While only 607 hostels have been completed, completion reports have not been received in respect of 266 of the sanctioned hostels, the report says. Kerala accounts for the maximum number of sanctioned hostels (146) for working women, followed by Maharashtra with 132 sanctioned hostels.
If Jammu and Kashmir State accounts for just five sanctioned hostels for the working women, the number of sanctioned hostels for working women in Tripura is one as against two each in Sikim, Jharkhand and Goa. The parliamentary panel has let it be known that there is indeed a missing link in the monitoring of construction, functioning and management of hostels for working women.
Making a pointed reference to what it has described as "lack of cordination" among the Centre and State governments, the panel has made two recomendations--first, the scheme should be revamped, and, second, the Ministry of Women and Child Development should convene meeting of Ministers and Women and Child Development of all States to find out the reasons for the reluctance of State governments in this regard and to take suitable remedial measures.
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