Woman, thy name is vitality

Shriniwas Joshi

THE campaign theme of Women's Day 2019 was #Balance for Better, whereby the call to women and their supporters for the year around is for "collective action and shared responsibility for deriving a gender balanced world." 

Today, though we are worried about the unemployed youth, yet very few talk about the employment of women despite the fact that women's participation in labour force has declined sharply. The labour force participation rate (LFPR) was 25.51 per cent in 2011-12 as per the National Sample Survey estimates. It was 24.8 per cent in rural and 14.7 per cent in urban areas. As per the World Bank data, women's LFPR was 27 per cent in 2016.

The participation of women in the labour force in India is lowest among countries in South Asia after Pakistan. It is a fact that the contribution of women in India to the GDP is only 17 per cent — less than half the global average of 37 per cent. 

IMF Chief Christine Lagarde believes that India's GDP would be 27 per cent higher if more women participated in the labour force.

But Himachal does not toe the rest of India line. With 47.4 per cent LFPR of women, it is second to Sikkim, according to the Census 2011. The World Bank in its report coming to public domain in June 2017 has placed the state on a par with Sikkim. FLFP is, however, waning in Himachal, too. Rural participation dipped 4 per cent from 71 to 67 between 2004-05 and 2011-12, while urban participation also fell from 36 to 30 per cent. Notwithstanding, Himachal is still better than other states on the whole. "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," says Pronab Sen, programme director, International Growth Centre. No wonder, that the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2015-16 shows that 90.8 per cent of currently married women in Himachal Pradesh take household decisions, of them 90 per cent belong to rural areas and 96.4 per cent to urban areas. According to Das, women elsewhere in India are withdrawing themselves from agriculture, but in Himachal, women report themselves as being employed in agriculture, which means that they do not regard themselves as mere helpers, but active agents. A survey was conducted in two panchayats of Kandaghat block during the agriculture season and it was found that in one hectare of land, a pair of bullock works for 1,084 hours; men for 1,212 hours and women for 3,485 hours. Women do not call it drudgery, they do it with interest and as if they are the actual owners of land, caring a naught for whose name figures in the revenue record. How long will this go? Will they also, like their counterparts in other states, not think of withdrawing themselves from the onerous task of agriculture? It is, therefore, important for all of us to make jobs in agriculture worth their while.

Employment in high-value agriculture, like off-season vegetables or floriculture, is really important.

Statistics from NFHS, 2015-16 show the advance of Himachali women in other fields too. A total of 89.8 per cent women of 6 years and above in urban areas and 77.9 per cent in rural areas have attended schools. In totality, females who attended school were 79 per cent in 2015-16 as against 73.1 per cent during 2005-06. There are 99.5 per cent households here, which are electrified; 94.9 per cent households have improved drinking water source; 70.7 per cent have better sanitation facility; iodized salt is being used by 99.1 per cent of households. The black spot for women of Himachal is anaemia. The anaemic non-pregnant women of age 15-49 is 53.6 per cent; it was 43.2 per cent in 2005-06 and that of pregnant women in the same age-group is 50.4 per cent in 2015-16 as compared to 38.1 per cent in 2005-06. The Health Department should wake up to find a solution for this menace.

Like women of other states, women of Himachal, too, are swayed by 'son-fixation'. Aparna Negi, professor at HPU, gives an evidence. The HP State Council for Child Welfare was declared an adoption agency in April 1998; the council has been receiving 75 per cent applications for adopting a boy, whereas 67 per cent among the abandoned infants are girls.

Representative of Himachali woman, 'Jalbala', a creation of Mahesh Chandra Saksena, remained in the darkness of the stores of the Municipal Corporation for many years to come out to light a few years ago like the Himachali woman who is coming out of darkness and heading towards light saying, "Woman, thy name is vitality".

Tailpiece

In olden days, Himachali women would not utter the first name of an elder relative. I asked the name of her father-in-law from a woman and she said 'mangal aur brihaspat ke beech ke'. She nodded when I said, "Budh Ram".