The Government is considering a bizarre proposal to give doles to housewives for their toil at home. But the proposal, which would reduce housewives to the status of salaried workers, has drawn sharp criticism from women activists.
Making a fresh bid for the Bill proposing “honorarium” for housewives, Minister for Women and Child Development Krishna Tirath has shot off letters to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) and labour Ministry to “recognise and make
visible the full extent of work of women.”
In a letter dated May 6, Tirath wrote to Minister of State in Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation Srikant Kumar Jena to quickly make available reliable datasets on the number of housewives. In order to evaluate their “salary,” she also wants to know about the number of hours they devote to household chores.
“I understand that a pilot survey is being undertaken in two States in India on this theme, and I request you to expedite the process and share the report for our consideration,” reads the letter.
Tirath also requested Jena to recognise the labour put in by homemakers under 92-93 NSSO activity codes (engaged in domestic duties).
last year, in September, the Women and Child Development Ministry had first proposed this Bill by which a percentage of the husband’s salary would be compulsorily transferred to his wife’s account for all the unpaid domestic work.
According to the proposal, this part of the husband’s salary would not be taxed.
Tirath had also vociferously said that this move would give women the much-needed “monetary empowerment” which they deserve for
the domestic activity they undertake.
In a separate letter to labour and Employment Minister Mallikarjun Kharge, Tirath wrote: “In India, the data on the work of the poor, and particularly of poor women, is inadequate. The grounds for exclusion of such work (domestic work) from national statistics suggest that these services have limited repercussions on the rest of the economy and it is difficult to impute monetary value of these services.”
Seeking Kharge’s intervention, Tirath wrote: “I request you to look into the need for gender sensitive labour policies which would promote gender equality in our country.”
This proposal has evoked very strong reactions from women activists. “This is a very strange idea. I would hate to see my mother being compensated for making the house a home. She is the real owner, the real homemaker and the real distributor in the house,” said Kiran Bedi, social activist and a retired Indian Police Service officer.
“Instead of paying honorariums and demeaning their work, the Women and Child Development Ministry should work on ways to make them more independent. They should open more vocational colleges, polytechnics or encourage entrepreneurship by helping them with easy loans,” said Bedi.
“It is truly disconcerting to hear about such a proposal. At the end of the day, a woman’s work at home cannot be quantified with money,” said Geeta Bhardwaj, co-director, Jagori, an NGO working for the cause of women.
“Women and Child Development Ministry should be working on ways of giving the homemakers opportunities to actualise their potential rather than be given a percentage of the husband’s salary. This might lead to fights and distrust,” she said.
“Clearly, very little thought has been given to the poorer sections of society where men earn less than Rs100 a day. How would they honour such a commitmentIJ They (poor) don't have a taxable income, how would the State ensure a steady inflow of cash into women's accounts. The
implementation of this law will be one of the biggest
questions,” said Sambhavi Singh, communications and outreach associate at Feminist Approach to Technology (FAT), an NGO working towards making women technologically sound.
“The State should try and forge new ways to create more avenues for women’s employment than devise ways to push them back into the four walls of the home. They must ensure strong support systems for women who work outside so they are not burdened with the dual responsibility of home and work,” she said.