Skip to main content

Implications of gendered inequalities in paid and unpaid work of women in India

By IMPRI Team 

It is important to focus on the multiple marginalities of Indian women in the globalized political economy of the 21st century and thus #IMPRI Gender Impact Studies Center (GISC), IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi organized a Book Discussion on Gendered Inequalities in Paid and Unpaid Work of Women in India under the #WebPolicyTalk series The State of Gender Equality– #GenderGaps. The discussion was started by the Chair and Editor, Prof Vibhuti Patel, Visiting Professor, IMPRI and Former Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. The Editor, Dr Nandita Mondal, is an Assistant Professor, Centre for Labour Studies, School of Management and Labour Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
The panel included Dr Geeta Balakrishnan, Researcher and Education Consultant, Retired as Teacher and Principal, College of Social Work, Nirmala Niketan, Mumbai and Dr Meenu Anand, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work, University of Delhi. Discussants for the event were Amrita Gupta, Programme Director – Research, Advocacy and Communications, Azad Foundation, New Delhi; Ashmita Sharma, Doctoral Scholar, Advanced Centre for Women’s Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai; Lavanya Shanbhogue Arvind, Assistant Professor, Centre for Disasters and Development, Jamsetji Tata School of Disaster Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai; and Vijayamba R., Senior Research Fellow, Economic Analysis Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Bengaluru.
Prof. Vibhuti Patel started the deliberation by giving an outline of her book ‘Gendered Inequalities in Paid and Unpaid Work of Women in India’. This book explores Indian women’s economic contribution through paid and unpaid work in different sectors of the economy and society in extremely diverse life situations and geographical locations. It highlights the gender implications of interlinkages between local, national, regional and global dimensions of women’s paid and unpaid work in India. It encompasses a vast canvas of life worlds of working women in the metropolitan, urban, peri-urban, rural, and tribal areas in manufacturing, agricultural, fisheries, sericulture, plantation and service sectors of the Indian economy.
It provides nuanced insights into intersectional marginalities of caste, class, ethnicity, religion and gender. It not only focuses on emerging issues but also suggests evidence-based policy imperatives. The chapters are based on primary data collection and triangulation of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. The book is divided into 3 parts; Macroeconomy and Women’s Work, Women in the Urban Economy and Regional Diversity and lastly Women in Agriculture and Allied Occupations. Prof Vibhuti continued her speech by discussing Part 1 of her book.
The first chapter focuses on issues such as globalization and women in the workforce and how it impacts them and it also analyzes and deconstructs structural adjustment programs marked by liberalization, privatization and globalization and how the devaluation, deregulation, denationalization and deflation have accentuated human miseries and women who are at the bottom of the pyramid of the informal sector. They are impacted both as consumers and producers. The second chapter is concerned with the constant positioning of women’s labour being divided in the binary of paid and unpaid within the competitive existence of state, market, community and household. The third chapter deals with migration and focuses on labour geography being created due to the migration of women labourers irrespective of their status.
Dr Nandita continued the conversation by summarizing the final 2 parts of the book. The central focus of Part II of the book is on the phenomenal role of women in the urban economy of contemporary India and she also talked about the individual contributions of each author in this part. Part III focuses on the women’s work participation in animal husbandry in Rural India through Employment Unemployment Surveys and NSSO, the emergence of women’s collective in Sericulture as a strong agency and the struggle of women weavers from Assam and reveals a glaring gender gap.
The text was then critically reviewed by Dr Geeta Balakrishnan, who also provided insightful commentary. She gave the book’s editors and contributors high acclaim and believed that the collection of chapters on the issue of gender and the care economy—paid and unpaid work—represented an original area of research and was well-integrated. She claims that the book’s strength is the fact that each author based their chapters on relevant theories and supported their claims with works of previous literature. Every Chapter has a special offering. This book has produced a synergy that inspires the thought of a whole field and provides ideas for additional study and investigation. She continued by talking about the concerns the book raised and how these aspects need to come up in the domain of government.
Dr Meenu Anand praised the book’s timely publication at a time when the entire world is dealing with the pandemic and discussing the gendered effects of COVID-19. Due to the pandemic, the labour markets are currently facing unprecedented difficulties, and 40% of women worldwide have lost their means of support. She began by outlining the four main lessons to be learned from this book, starting with its comprehensive coverage of all the states in India. The book’s stunning display of sectoral diversity, which is an amalgamation of grassroots narratives, was the second thing she highlighted. She feels that his book has a significant blending of voices from various sectors of women’s activity. Next, she complimented the book for its significant USP which is the coverage of novel sectors, occupations and work related to women giving examples of commercial surrogacy and she briefly discussed the chapters after that. She shared how this book delivers resilience stories and inspires optimism in her final remarks, calling it a treasure trove of information.
Amrita Gupta was then invited by Prof. Vibhuti to discuss both the book and her contribution. She goes into detail in the chapter on non-traditional occupations as a viewpoint that enables women to challenge gender division. In this book, numerous voices from all facets of women’s life are represented and she further shared her journey in writing this chapter.
Lavanya Shanbhogue Arvind then continued the discussion by talking about ceremonial sexual and ritual labour. Her chapter critically interrogates the role of self-help groups in the rehabilitation process of former Devadasis from Belgaum, Karnataka. The Indian labour force participation is characterized by a high concentration of female labour in the informal sector. Several estimates state that over 90% of this sector is made up of women. Given the context, this paper seeks to examine the impact of SHG formation and disbursement of microcredit as mechanisms to rehabilitate women who exited the Devadasi practice in the Belgaum district of Karnataka.
Following that, Vijayamba R. continued by talking about her chapter on livestock and how, in India, it is the second most important source of employment for rural women after crop cultivation. She further shared her findings on the distribution of rural female agricultural workforce aged 15-59 in broad activities of the agricultural sector, the proportion of rural women aged 15-59 whose principal status is domestic duty over time, Proportion of rural women aged 15-59 who regularly performed various activities of economic importance to households among those who were principally engaged in domestic duty over the years in India and concluded her discussion by talking about the declining trend of women’s participation in raising animals, a fall in cattle ownership by rural households and a decline in women’s preference for traditional activities.
After thanking the editors, Radhika Uppal continued the conversation by discussing the paper on women professional drivers, a non-traditional line of work, the difficulties they encountered entering a non-and women’s technical field like working late hours, and the changes they had experienced in their lives. This report also makes some policy proposals for both increasing and retaining the number of women in the workforce. Rama Ramaswamy then took the stage to discuss her chapter, which focuses on the socio-economic environment of street vendors and explores the difficulties they have when operating their businesses on the streets of Aizawl. Her study is based on primary data collected from a sample of 196 entrepreneurs operating their street enterprises in Thakthing Zing Bazar who spoke about marketing, finance and infrastructure.
Dr Geeta contributed her concluding comments about the book before Prof. Vibhuti and Dr Nandita wrapped up the debate by applauding all the authors, appreciating the panellists, and presenting the emerging issues and suggestions discussed in the book.
---
Acknowledgement: Aanchal Karnani, research intern at IMPRI

Comments

TRENDING

Abrogation of Art 370: Increasing alienation, relentless repression, simmering conflict

One year after the abrogation by the Central Government of Art. 370 in Kashmir, what is the situation in the Valley. Have the promises of peace, normalcy and development been realised? What is the current status in the Valley? Here is a detailed note by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties , “Jammu & Kashmir: One Year after Abrogation of Art. 370: Increasing Alienation, Relentless Repression, Simmering Conflict”:

Repeated failure to appoint Chief, other commissioners undermining RTI Act

By Anjali Bhardwaj, Amrita Johri* The post of the Chief Information Commissioner of the Central Information Commission (CIC) has fallen vacant with the retirement of Bimal Julka with effect from August 27, 2020. This is the fifth time in the last six years that the Commission has been rendered headless. Four posts of information commissioners are also vacant in the CIC. Currently more than 35,000 appeals and complaints are pending in the commission resulting in citizens having to wait for months, even years for their cases to be disposed, thereby frustrating peoples’ right to know. Since May 2014, not a single commissioner of the CIC has been appointed without citizens having to approach courts. The failure of the government to make timely appointments of commissioners is a flagrant violation of the directions of the Supreme Court. In its February 2019 judgment, the apex court had categorically stated that if the CIC does not have a Chief Information Commissioner or required strength

Panchayat funds defrauded: Roads without potholes a fundamental right but not here

Kirity Roy, Secretary Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), and National Convenor (PACTI) Programme Against Custodial Torture & Impunity, writes to the chairman, National Human Rights Commission: *** Through this complaint, I want to draw your attention to the plight of the villagers of Nawdapara in the District of North 24 Parganas. The village is situated under the Bagdah Police Station, Bagdah Block and Mama Bhagina Post Office respectively. Nawdapara is a Muslim minority populated village. Indo Bangladesh Border Road (IBBR) passes through the middle of the village. There is a naka checking post of the BSF inside the village and BSF associated with Mama Bhagina Border Out Post, 68 Battalion, ‘B’ Company guard 24 hours in that check post. People have lived in this village since the independence of India. The market is about three to four kilometres away from Nawdapara village. One primary school is situated within the village but the high school is about five to six kilo

Ultimate champion in crisis, arguably best ever skipper: Created history in Aussie cricket

By Harsh Thakor  In the history of cricket few cricketers knit and propelled a cricket team or had such profound influence on the game as Ian Chappell. Ian Chappell was responsible for converting a bunch of talented individuals into a world beating side, giving a dramatic turn to Australian cricket. Few cricketers ever led such a renaissance.

BSF's unconstitutional, whimsical order violates life, livelihood of Dalits, minorities

Kirity Roy, Secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), writes to the Chairman, National Human Rights Commission: *** I want to attract your attention towards the illegitimate restrictions on the life and livelihood of the villagers of Paschim Sahebganj village under Dinhata - II Block and Sahebganj police station in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal by the Border Security Force personnel attached with Dharala Border Out Post under 138 Battalion BSF. The population of Paschim Sahebganj village is around 1480, where almost 75 percent of the villagers belong from Hindu Scheduled Caste (Dalit) and 25 percent from minority Muslim backgrounds.The main occupation of the villagers is agriculture. About 260 acres of cultivable land in the village that belongs to the villagers is located outside the border fencing, which is heavily guarded by the Border Security Force (BSF). The BSF regulates the ingress and egress of the villagers to their fields through the fencing gates that a

Largest democracy in world has become weakest at hands of fascist Hindutva forces

Note on “The Nazification of India”, a report released By Justice For All: *** This report, the Nazification of India, compares how Hindutva ideology not only is inspired by Nazis and Fascists of Europe, but their treatment of the Muslim minority closely follows developments that resulted in pushing Jews to the gas chambers. Situation is indeed quite alarming. The report says that the largest democracy in the world has become the weakest at the hands of the fascist Hindutva ideology. India today is ruled not just by a political party the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but its mother organization the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Because the BJP’s government policies are linked to extra-legal enforcement by RSS paramilitary street power, this report has coined the term “The BJP-RSS regime” to reflect their intrinsic links and collaborative relationship. The Nazification of India report marks the anniversary of the Gujarat pogroms of 2002 against Muslims which propelled the BJP-RSS

Varanasi social worker who has devoted her life for the ultra-poor and the marginalized

Passion Vista and its partners profile Founder and Managing Trustee Shruti Nagvanshi as  someone whom women leaders look up to: *** Shruti Nagvanshi, a social worker and human rights activist based in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, has devoted her life to reaching out to the ultra-poor and marginalized communities in India. Born in Dashashwmedh, Varanasi on 2 January 1974, she married Dr Lenin Raghuvanshi on 22 February 1992 and has a son, Kabeer Karunik, a Business management Graduate who is also a national level snooker player.

An approach to lake/pond restoration by Ramveer Tanvar, Pond Man of India

By Monami Bhattacharya*, Mansee Bal Bhargava**  Lakes/ ponds are often referred to as an elixir of life, a living ecosystem that adds incremental value to the larger biota. Across the tropical landscape of the country lakes/ ponds are a common sight. Lakes/ponds have always shaped the life and livelihood of those dwelling in and around it. The dependence of the local population on these natural resources of water is noticeable since time immemorial. However, they are fading fast in both rural and urbanscapes from the popular parlance with the advance of humanity. It has been a popular notion to value land more than the waterscape and hence these nurturers of life are under stress in several areas. In many instances, these once beautiful waterscapes referred as the ‘Eye of the Earth’ are mostly now only dilapidated garbage dump yards emitting foul smell with no sign of a healthy ecosystem.

Urban crisis: Impact of erosion of democratic framework on Indian cities

By IMPRI Team  On 13th February, 2023, IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi in collaboration with ActionAid Association India arranged a book launch followed by lecture series under the title “India’s G20 Presidency & the Urban Agenda for the Developing Countries”. The event was held in Indian International Centre (IIC) Annex, New Delhi. The event began with the book inauguration session, under the honorary presence of Mr Sitaram Yechury, former Rajya Sabha member and General Secretary, CPI (M), accompanied by Mr Sandeep Chachra, executive director, ActionAid Association India. Session 1 | Book Launch: ‘Cities in Transition’ by Mr Tikender Singh Panwar The book launched was “Cities in Transition”, written by Mr Tikender Singh Panwar, former Deputy Mayor, Shimla and a Senior Fellow at IMPRI. Beginning with brief remarks on his book, Mr Panwar outlined the basic subject matter and the purpose behind writing the book, which he considers as a by-product of his experien

Why rapid transition to green energy should be people-centric and community-led

Synthesis Report of IPCC AR6 is a warning call: Grounded action needed to ensure social and ecological justice: ActionAid Association note: *** The Synthesis Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report is a warning call for action on the quickly closing opportunity of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees centigrade. Unless fossil fuels are rapidly retired, the impacts of climate change already faced by vulnerable communities will become difficult to handle. The IPCC report also highlights that we have the renewable energy technology, policy tools, and financial capital required for a just transition; however, “both adaptation and mitigation financing would need to increase many-fold”. The loss and damage caused by heat waves, crop failures, and rising sea levels suffered by majorities of India’s working peoples are already significant and uncompensated. News reports tell us that due to heat, India already loses around 101 billion hours yearly. E