Parliamentary panel recommends better facilities to boost numbers.
Talk of women empowerment in our country is mere lip service. A parliamentary panel led by Goa MP Shantaram Naik has found that only 10.04 per cent of those employed in the central government sector are women.
Though there has been a slight improvement in the numbers — up from 7.53 per cent in 2001 and 9.68 per cent in 2004 — giving equal status to women in India is still a distant reality.
The panel probing the status of women in government employment and PSUs found that railways — touted as the biggest employer — recruited 6.43 per cent women. The defence ministry, which has yet to give its nod to employing women in combat units — has 10.79 per cent women employed for civilian and non-combat duties. The percentage in the banking and financial institutions is far greater at 28-35 per cent.
Unfriendly working conditions dissuaded women from joining sectors such as oil, coal, and ports, according to the panel report, which was tabled in Parliament. It said providing facilities such as a longer maternity leave, day-care centres, staggered working hours, restricting overtime and late-night working hours, giving part-time leave of up to two hours a day till the child is three years old and child care leave could right the skewed sex ratio in the government sector.
The committee believed that the poor representation of women in decision-making positions is also a major factor in fewer women getting employed.
The committee has recommended that women negotiators must be employed in unions too while negotiating bipartite and industrial agreements. It has also asked for a uniform policy of granting leave of 180 days in all government departments and PSUs.
Employing more women had resulted in a better working environment apart from removing deep-seated prejudices, the committee said. “The technological changes adopted in the work environment has also increased the participation of the women workforce, enabling them to contribute to the building of the nation,” said Shantaram Naik.
He said during the depositions by various stakeholders, it was found that government instructions regarding the posting of husband and wife at one place were hardly adhered to. Naik called for giving statutory backing to these instructions.
The panel further asked the head of departments to ascertain the reasons for quitting before accepting the resignations of women employees.
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