The ILO includes tasks like cooking, cleaning, washing, gardening, driving family, nourishing children and elderly persons, etc. It has been observed that poor and illiterate or semi-literate female members are doing the job of domestic help. They are unaware of their rights and privileges. They have to face many unseen and hidden minor and major problems in their family and at work.

The scenario of female domestic help in Kolkata shows that a major portion of the working population has been occupied. It has become an integral part of Bengali households. The economically better-off families have to depend on domestic help (from economically weaker sections of society) for the smooth functioning of their daily lives.

These domestic helps come from the neighbouring suburban areas through local trains on a daily basis. A significant number of them travel from rural areas to urban areas for local training in a very distressing situation. Due to the lack of various data, the estimation of their total population is very difficult.

It has been noted that a majority of workers in Kolkata are the only earning members in their family and are compelled to work. Their earnings are very low compared to their work load. It has been recorded that these female workers are either dismissed by their husbands or they are victims of cruelty and violence in their family. In many cases, their husbands left them after a second marriage. When their husbands are with them, they are either jobless or they do their job for their own entertainment.

A significant number of them have to bear all expenses for their counterparts. Their earnings are only for household management. They incur very little or no expense for their own purposes. From interviews with a group of 20 female domestic helpers, it has been assumed that they were the only earning members of their households, with 4-5 members. Among them, 50% were deserted by their husband. The rest of them lived with their husbands, who made no contribution to their families. Even so, they had to bear the expense of their liquor daily. Their monthly earnings were about Rs 5,000–6,000, which was less than their family’s needs, including their children’s education, health, and so forth. So, they had to borrow a loan from either the Bandhan group through SHG members or private borrowers at high interest.

Consequently, their future is difficult because they have little scope to come out of their economic crisis from governments. They get rations at a discount rate, and all of them get the facility of “Laxmi Bhandar (Rs. 500–1000) per month from the state government.

In fact, women’s participation in the workforce does not secure their own economic lives. Their lives are devoted to their family members because they are the ultimate lovers of their family. They try to restore households with their end means. But the male exploitation is continuing. So, gender equity in all terms is questioned. Are patriarchal dominance and exploitation not strengthened by matriarchal support?

Courtesy: CounterView

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According to the report released on 4 December 2023, Maharashtra recorded the highest number of suicides (22,746) for the third consecutive year, followed by Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh.

If we look at these statistics, it is clear that the working class in the country is at the top in terms of suicides. A third of these figures are suicides of farmers and farm labourers. The next highest number of suicides is that of daily wage labourers, whose number is 44,713, which is 26.4 per cent of the total. This figure is 1% more than last year.

Also if we talk about professionals, they account for 9.2 percent of suicide cases, including 14,395 salaried and 18,357 self-employed people. Looking at suicides due to unemployment, it is 9.2 percent, while 3,541 such cases were reported in 2021, while the number was marginally lower in 2022 – 3,170.

Rising suicide rate across the country is the most worrisome. Over the years people’s purchasing power has gone down, while inflation has been on the rise. Along with this, unemployment has also peaked. As a result, people’s savings have also declined by 5 per cent. While NCRB data says that most workers quit due to family reasons. or suicides due to illness, financial crisis is one of the main reasons.

According to NCRB, 1,09,875 people who committed suicide i.e. 64.3 percent have an annual income of less than Rs 1 lakh. There has been a huge increase in the number of suicides by 27.06 percent in the last five years and the proportion of suicides (16.4) is higher in urban areas.

Govt’s false development claims

These figures expose the government’s false development claims. Earlier, farmers used to commit suicide, but this was not the case with labourers. Labourers used to migrate for work and earn their livelihood by doing anything, but the problem of employment has arisen in front of them, and in the last few years, workers are also committing suicide and this number is increasing in big cities as well which is more serious. It shows that the workers are desperate and hence they are sacrificing their lives.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has released its ‘Crime in India 2022’ report. Like every year, this year also there has been an increase in the incidents of violence against women. According to the data in the report, a total of 4,45,256 crimes against women have been reported in 2022. Whereas earlier in 2021, 4,28,278 and 3,71,503 cases were reported in 2020. That is, last year in 2022, about 51 crimes were registered every hour in relation to crimes against women. This data tells a different truth than all the promises and intentions of women’s safety.

According to this report, Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of cases of crimes against women last year in 2022. About 65 thousand 743 crimes were registered here. This is the same BJP-ruled state where speeches from Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to Union Home Minister Amit Shah cite examples of women’s safety. Everything from Mission Shakti to Safe City scheme for women is going on here, but the story of insecurity does not change.

Capital Delhi has the worst record in terms of crime against women. The crime rate against women in Delhi is 144.4, higher than the national average of 66.4. This crime rate is per one lakh women. If we understand it in simple terms, it is the percentage of women victims of crime in relation to population i.e. for every 1 lakh women. Crime rate against women is 118.7 in Haryana, 117 in Telangana, 115.1 in Rajasthan.

Maharashtra and Rajasthan are not far behind in cases of violence against women. 45 thousand 331 cases have been registered in Maharashtra and 45 thousand 58 cases in Rajasthan.

Highest 31.4% cases of crimes against women under IPC were of cruelty by husband or his relatives

Trinamool Congress’s West Bengal is not far behind among the unsafe states for women. Women had special expectations from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, but here too 34 thousand 738 cases were registered.

Elections were held recently in Madhya Pradesh, where the BJP was described as a ‘women-loving’ government, but under Shivraj Singh’s rule, 32,765 cases of crimes against women were registered here too. These are the statistics of some states where leaders and ministers do not tire of repeatedly claiming that it is safe for women. Schemes are carried out in the name of security, posters with their pictures published in newspapers, However, every day the pages of newspapers expose the security system of women well. And perhaps the success of the women’s movement is that women are becoming aware and raising their voices against the oppression they face.

Women are most vulnerable in their homes

According to the report, the highest 31.4% cases of crimes against women under Indian Penal Code (IPC) were of cruelty by husband or his relatives. This means women are most vulnerable in their own homes. This was followed by 19.2% cases of kidnapping and abduction of women by luring or threatening them. At the same time, 18.7% of women were assaulted with the intention of defaming their dignity and 7.1% of cases of rape were reported.

Law and order in Delhi is in the hands of the central government and is controlled by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA government. Under the leadership of Narendra Modi, the BJP contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections on which women’s safety was an important issue. The party made many promises in its manifesto and the Prime Minister in his speech. But now that Prime Minister Modi’s second term is coming to an end, the question is now being raised whether those promises were limited to slogans.

It is noteworthy that NCRB’s ‘Crime in India’ report was released this time on December 3 i.e. Sunday. This report comes every year and every year we lament the increasing crimes against women, like – violence against women has increased this year compared to last year or how many women and minor girls are victims of rape every day. The graph of murder, domestic violence, dowry is high in these metros and sometimes the graph of domestic violence, dowry death is high in these metros and sometimes these states are most unsafe for women. But this does not solve the issue of women’s safety or change the status of women.

Courtesy: CounterView

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Although the hunger crisis in India has been a source of concern for policymakers for some time, it is pertinent to note that the government has opted to curtail its budgetary provisions for food and nutrition in the Union Budget 2023.[1] [2]

For example, the Food Subsidy programme, which ensures the distribution of food grains at subsidised prices through the Targeted Public Distribution System, has been reduced by more than 30%. At the same time, Mission Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0, a nutrition support programme, was allocated INR 20,554 crore, a meagre increase of around INR 290 crore over the revised estimates of the previous year’s budget. Further, the PM-Poshan scheme, earlier known as the Mid Day Meal programme, received an allocation of INR 11,600 crore, a fall of INR 1,200 crore compared to the revised estimates for 2022-23.

Hunger is a devastating reality that affects millions of people globally, yet it does not affect everyone equally. Studies have shown that a staggering 60% of those experiencing food insecurity are women, and the situation in India is particularly alarming. The NFHS-5 reveals that 57% of women in India suffer from anaemia, a condition strongly associated with inadequate nourishment, insufficient dietary intake, and inadequate healthcare access. This figure is more than twice the corresponding rate for men, which stands at 25%. Furthermore, anaemia prevalence has increased among women in the 15-49 age group, with the increase standing at 3.9 percentage points since NFHS-4. Additionally, a quarter of Indian women of reproductive age have a body mass index (BMI) of less than 18.5 kg/m2, indicating undernutrition.

Gender inequality contributes significantly to hunger, malnutrition, and related illnesses that disproportionately affect women and girls in India. Discrimination against women in India accords them limited access to critical resources such as education, land, and credit, curtailing their ability to generate income and provide for themselves.

Women are more likely than men to live in extreme poverty in India because of underpaid and unpaid work. Globally, women take on 3 times as much unpaid work as men and earn less than men. In India, on average, 66% of women’s work is unpaid, compared to 12% of men’s work. Additionally, women invest 90% of their income back into their families compared to just 40% for men, leaving them little to no savings and pushing them towards food insecurity and resultant hunger.

Despite occupying valuable positions as farmers, business owners, and entrepreneurs, women are often deprived of the rights and resources that men receive. For example, women constitute over 42% of agricultural labour in India, yet they own less than 2% of farmland. The amendment to the Hindu Succession Act in 2005 provided daughters with equal rights to inherit property as sons. Despite this, only 43% of women in India own land or a house. In rural areas, the lack of assets, particularly land, can increase women’s dependence and vulnerability, leading to limited access to food.

Gender-based violence is also a critical issue that often limits women’s access to the public sphere in India. When women are subjected to violence, it can have far-reaching consequences, including restricting their ability to work outside the home, seek education or healthcare, and participate in social and community activities. This can lead to a cycle of poverty and vulnerability that exacerbates the issue of hunger and malnutrition.

Women who experience gender-based violence may be trapped in abusive relationships, further increasing their dependence on their partners for food and other basic needs. In such cases, leaving an abusive relationship could mean a loss of income or resources, which could have disastrous consequences for their and their children’s well-being.

Over the years, women’s participation in household decision-making has increased but is still ruled by patriarchal norms. Sexist cultural and traditional norms perpetuate gender inequality in India, leading to an uneven distribution of resources within households, especially food. Women’s lower status within families and society, combined with the perception of women’s domestic labour having lesser worth, often leads to a situation where women are left vulnerable to hunger and malnutrition.

Women often receive the least amount of food and are left to eat last. The husband and children are given priority and eat first, with male children who attend school receiving the highest priority. In fact, women are expected to consume smaller portions than men or eat leftovers after others in the family have eaten, despite spending 85 – 90% of their time on household food preparation.

Dalit and Adivasi women are among the worst victims of this hunger crisis. Studies show that the incidence of anaemia among Dalit and tribal women stands at 56% and 59%, respectively, which surpasses the national average of 53%. Rising hunger levels hit marginalised communities the most, with many households being forced to reduce the number of meals and items in their meals. The situation is further exacerbated by the decreasing access to forests, a prime source of nutrition for tribal women. This not only affects them but also has intergenerational effects, leading to malnourished children and perpetuating the cycle of poverty.

It is important to note that malnutrition and hunger are complex issues that require a multi-dimensional approach. To address the problem of lower food and nutrition security among women, the social, economic, and political variables that contribute to and perpetuate gender inequality must be addressed. One effective solution is to increase women’s income, which can significantly enhance their household food consumption, nutrition, and health. Studies have shown that women contribute more to household income than men, both in absolute and proportional terms, by using less income for personal use.

The issue of gendered hunger in India is not only a gender issue but also an issue of caste and tribal marginality. Therefore, interventions should address not only the immediate causes of hunger but also the underlying structural and systemic factors that perpetuate inequalities. This includes improving access to land, forest, and other natural resources crucial for the livelihoods and food security of marginalised communities.

Lastly, it is crucial to establish capacity development plans that impart technical, managerial, and monitoring skills to all stakeholders to ensure equitable and sustainable development in urban and rural contexts. Such plans can strengthen community resilience and enable the active involvement of women and marginalised communities in decision-making processes that profoundly impact their lives and well-being.

(The authors are researchers at Social Policy Research Foundation (SPRF). Headquartered in New Delhi, SPRF is a policy think tank seeking to make public policy research holistic and accessible)

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The all-women team at the Bhuira Jam Factory in Sirmaur district, Himachal Pradesh. Having a job has meant empowerment in tangible ways. Everyone, even the temporary employees, has a bank account and post office savings schemes.

The all-women jam-making team at Bhuira had a new task: Emptying out the office so that it could be painted. Perhaps out of habit, the women had their caps neatly on, their hair firmly tucked in, a smidgen of sindhoor (vermilion) peeping out from beneath.
 
Seated before a computer, Upasana Kumari is not a jam-maker at all and described herself as an administrator. With a BSc in information technology, the farmer’s daughter said all seven of her sisters (plus a brother) are educated or are still studying. The youngest wants to be a doctor and is in her final year of school; the eldest is married and helps her husband with his fruit orchard. “Only I have a paid job,” pointed out Kumari.
 
Married to a policeman who has a secure job and a steady salary, Kumari said she thought about getting back to work now that her only child, a boy, is three. What started with part-time work is now a full-fledged job, and she’s grateful for the factory since there aren’t many job opportunities for someone with her qualifications in this remote area. “If it wasn’t for this factory, I wouldn’t have been able to work at all,” she said. “I didn’t study so much so that I could sit at home.”
 

“I didn’t study so much so that I could sit at home,” said Upasana Kumari, a BSc in information technology, who is now an administrator at Bhuira Jams.
 
In contrast to its neighbours–particularly Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana–Himachal Pradesh stands out as a positive outlier in terms of social development.
 
Higher sex-ratio at birth, more literate and educated women
 
The 2011 Indian Human Development Report ranked Himachal Pradesh third after Kerala and Delhi. Dramatic poverty decline in rural areas–where 90% of the population lives–from 36.8% to 8.5% between 1993-94 and 2011; land reform with 80% of the population owning some amount of land; exceptional infrastructure; enlightened policy and legislation (the Himalayan state was the first to ban plastic bags) and an engaged citizenry are some of the features that make this such a stand-out state, according to a 2015 World Bank Group study, Scaling the Heights: Social Inclusion and Sustainable Development in Himachal Pradesh.
 
Source: India and Himachal Pradesh factsheets, National Family Health Survey, 2015-16
 
But impressive as these features are, the one feature that is perhaps not commented upon enough is the enthusiastic participation of the state’s women in jobs, particularly in rural areas.
 
For some years now, economists and policy-makers have been troubled by the dwindling number of women in paid jobs, or female labor force participation (FLFP).
 
The data are indisputable. Between the years 2004-05 and 2011-12, 19.6 million women dropped out of the Indian labour force, according to a 2017 World Bank report, Precarious Drop: Reassessing Patterns of Female Labour Force Participation in India.
 
During 1993-94 to 2011-12, participation fell from 42.6% to 31.2%. But the sharpest drop occurred between 2004-05 and 2011-12 in rural India amongst young girls and women aged between 15 and 24.
 
The exception to this trend: Himachal Pradesh.
 

Female Workforce Participation:
Himachal Pradesh & Its Neighbours

Source: Census 2011, Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation
 
Amongst all states, Himachal Pradesh has, at 47.4%, the second-largest participation of women in the labour force in rural areas, after Sikkim, according to Census 2011. More recent findings by the World Bank in June 2017 place the state at number one, at par with Sikkim.
 
More women in rural Himachal Pradesh are at work
 
In keeping with the trends elsewhere the country, FLFP is waning in Himachal Pradesh too. Rural participation dipped four percentage points from 71% to 67% between 2004-05 and 2011-12, while urban participation also fell from 36% to 30%, according to this 2015 World Bank Group report.
 
Much of the state’s female workforce participation is driven by agriculture, still the mainstay of the state’s largely rural economy. In urban areas, the picture isn’t quite so rosy with an FLFP (according to Census data) of 19.9%–not great when you compare it with the rural figure, but still higher than the all India urban FLFP at 15.4%.
 
Source: Census 2011 Data, Office of the Registrar General, India, Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation
 
“Women in rural areas are more than twice as likely as their male counterparts to report themselves as being self-employed in agriculture,” said Maitreyi Bordia Das, lead author of the World Bank Group’s 2015 study.
 
Women in the hill states have always worked, said Pronab Sen, country director of International Growth Centre’s India central division. “There is a long history of men migrating for jobs and women taking over the economic activity in villages. They take the decisions and call the shots. This is culturally embedded in these states,” he said.
 
Women’s participation in agriculture in the state is probably very different from that in other north Indian states, said Das. Horticulture and floriculture, for instance, have higher value than traditional crops.
 
But, she warned, women elsewhere in India are withdrawing from agriculture. If Himachal is to avoid this trend, then “it’s important to make sure new opportunities in agri business benefit women as well”, she said.
 
Moreover, pointed out Das, agriculture is arduous manual work. “Himachali women report themselves as being employed in agriculture. This is good in a sense. It means they don’t regard themselves as mere helpers but active agents. But to keep them in jobs, it’s important to make jobs worth their while. And so, employment in high-value agriculture is really important.”
 
“I make the rotis, he makes the vegetables.” Neelam Devi, grade X pass
 
‘Made by happy mountain women,’ states every jar that bears the Bhuira label. Last year, these happy women made 65,458 kg of jams, jellies and chutneys sold in 108,000 large and 54,955 small bottles made in two factory units, one at Bhuira and a newer one that was set up in 2011 at Halonipul village nearby.
 
That’s a lot of jam for what started as a personal, for friends-and-family only venture by Linnet Mushran, an Englishwoman who made India her home.
 
The charming stone-and-slate cottage in Bhuira, Rajgarh tehsil in Sirmaur district, nestled deep inside pine forests in Himachal Pradesh remains Mushran’s home and is also the site of the factory that has eight full-time employees, all women, and, in season, between 18 and 19 jam-makers and between 12 and 15 packers (again, all women). Mushran’s daughter-in-law, Rebecca Vaz, is helping expand the business.
 
On the morning that I visited, I ran into Poonam Kanwar, 50, orchard owner who had walked to the factory to inquire if there is a requirement for the apricot and peaches that have ripened on her trees in Chichdiya village close by.
 
The factory had met this year’s orders. Kanwar shrugged–there would be other sales, figured the woman who has been supplying fruit to the jam factory for 10 years. Selling fruit to be made into jam anyway is an added source of income–her best pickings are sold in mandis and then sent to fruit markets in Delhi.
 
There’s really no time for chit-chat. Kanwar tends to 150 fruits trees, including lemons and pears in addition to peaches and apricots. She also grows vegetables for her own consumption. And there are four cows to look after.
 
The hard work of tending to the land and all that thrives on it is shared by Kanwar and her husband, ‘fifty-fifty’, she said.
 
A son has completed his masters in technology and has a job, and her 28-year-old daughter, as yet unmarried, is a ‘PhD in computers’, she said proudly. “I have worked on the land from the day I got married,” said Kanwar. “But nowadays girls are educated and when that happens there is no question that they will do farming.” Kanwar’s daughter has a job, teaching in Chandigarh where she lives alone.
 
The idea of shared household work doesn’t seem to be a novelty for many of the women. Neelam Devi, a grade X pass, has worked on and off at the factory–breaks in employment marked by the birth of her three children.
 
“Before marriage also I used to work. But then it was for shauk (fun). Now I earn so that I can educate my children, send them to the best schools, let them study to their heart’s content,” said Neelam Devi. It’s a vision she shares with her husband. “If he didn’t help me at home, how could I have worked outside? I make the rotis, he makes the vegetables,” she said.
 
Women in Himachal Pradesh have a long and perhaps unique history of community activism, pointed out Das’s World Bank report. “This form of assertion in public spaces resonates with their agency in the private sphere,” it stated.
 
As many as 96.4% of married urban women and 90% of married rural women in Himachal Pradesh–well above the all-India average of 85.8% and 83%, respectively–reported participating in household decisions, according to the National Family Health Survey, 2015-16.
 
Kamla Devi is the 58-year-old pradhan (head of the village council) of Bhuira village (population 685). She is, unusual for India, the only child and therefore the sole inheritor of her father’s land. “I grew up here. I am a daughter of this village,” she said.
 
The widow of a soldier, Devi has lived all over India including Kerala and Sikkim. “On the times that I went with him, I hired casual labour to look after the fields and fruit trees,” she said. Of her two sons, the elder died of cancer and the younger has a small tent business. Now, she tends to the fields alone, and looks after village council work. There’s a government school up to the grade X and two anganwadis (courtyard shelters). “Every girl here is in school,” she said.
 

Where The Women Work
Source: National Sample Survey Office, 68^th Round, Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation
 
I am introduced to Devi by her elder daughter-in-law, Ranjita, who has worked with Bhuira Jams from the day it received its commercial license in 1999. Back then, she was a young woman. Now, with her husband dead and nobody to help her mother-in-law with the land, was it ever suggested to her that she might perhaps chip in? “No. Never. I have always worked. The question of giving up my job never arose,” she said.
 

Ranjita Devi has worked with Bhuira Jams from the day it received its commercial license in 1999.
 
Bhuira’s grand supervisor is the four-feet-something Ram Kali, a woman with an easy laugh who says her age is between ‘50 and 65’ depending on her mood.
 
Kali’s parents came to Himachal Pradesh as migrant labour. She has no idea when they went back, or why she was left behind with a Himachali family. But this state has been her home ever since. She first came to Bhuira with her husband, a daily wage laborer who died some years ago, as a tenant farmer. “It was a forest. We leveled the land, planted apple trees and potatoes and lived on it for free,” she said.
 
For a woman who has never been to school, Kali manages the day-to-day operations at the jam factory–how much fruit is needed, is there enough stock and does lunch have to be cooked for the occasional visitor–with aplomb. “She’s my boss,” laughed Vaz.
 

Ram Kali’s parents came to Himachal Pradesh as migrant labour. Kali manages the day-to-day operations at Bhuira Jams–how much fruit is needed, is there enough stock and does lunch have to be cooked for the occasional visitor.
 
“This factory has changed so many lives,” she said. Having a job has meant empowerment in tangible ways. Everyone, even the temporary employees, has a bank account and post office savings schemes. Even those who don’t work here, like fruit-supplier Poonam Kanwar, have an additional income for the fruit that doesn’t make it to markets in Delhi and would otherwise rot on the trees.
 
“In Himachal, nobody ever went hungry,” said Kali. “But nobody ever had cash. Now, every woman here has money in her pocket.”
 
This is the sixth in a nation-wide IndiaSpend investigation into why Indian women are dropping out of the workplace.
 
Part 1: Why Indian workplaces are losing women
Part 2: In a Haryana factory, tradition clashes with aspiration
Part 3: Housework keeps Indian women at home. But some women are changing that
Part 4: Why India’s hospitality sector must win over parents of the skilled women it needs
Part 5: Why India’s most educated women are leaving jobs faster than others
 
(Namita Bhandare is a Delhi-based journalist who writes frequently on gender issues confronting India.)
 

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