SOCIETY

Sorry plight of Bhavnagar women porters

     Bhavnagar (Gujarat): The port city of Bhavnagar in Gujarat state is one of the few railway stations in India to employ women porters. The porters, however, are facing a trying time, as the station has been closed for the last 15 months, to replace metre gauge tracks with broad gauge tracks. With the station lying deserted, over 80 women porters, many of whom were the sole bread earners for of their families, are now jobless. Many of the women porters have been left with no option but to take up ungainful petty jobs.

    "We have been working here since our childhood. Since the closure of the station, 15 months ago, we have had nothing else to do. We just hope that the renovation finishes soon, and only then will our misery end," said Kantaben, a porter. "The railway station has been lying closed since the last one and a half years. What do we do? How do we run our house, educate our children, and pay electricity bills?," asked Durgaben, another porter. Authorities said the renovation would ultimately benefit the porters as the station would get connected to major cities, thereby bringing more paasengers.

     "This conversion of metre gauge to broad gauge will definitely take some time. It will be very beneficial for the city, because we will be able to get direct train service. With metre gauge, we had no direct train for prominent cities like Bombay or Calcutta, but now, this will soon change. Of course, all this would cause inconvenience to a few people for a while," said Niraj Kumar, Divisional Railway Manager, Bhavnagar. Bhavnagar is a sprawling industrial city and an important trading post for cotton products, along India's western coast.
-Mar 21, 2004

Sex workers demand labour status for their profession

     Kolkata: Sex workers in Kolkata have demanded legalisation of their profession. They also staged a protest demonstration on Saturday and threatened to boycott next month's national polls if their demands are not met. Sex workers have often accused the government of violating human rights. "It is a very simple demand, that is to recognise sex work as a work. And to get it recognised, essentially what is needed is that it is to be included in the list of occupation, which is maintained by the ministry of labour in the government of India," said Jana, founder of Durbar Mohila Samanya Samiti, a social organisation. Official records estimate that there are at least 40,000 sex workers in Kolkata, capital, of West Bengal, alone. Though prostitution is illegal in India, all major cities have "red light areas" where prostitutes can be hired for as little as about Rs 100. NGOs have been demading a legislation to ensure labour status for the prostitutes for over seven years now, but to no avail. Manju, a sex worker, demanded a regulated income as a mere licence would not help them. "Even if we get liscence, it will not solve our problems. We are not running a business, we earn a living. We want a regulated income so that we can earn our living," said Manju. Most women prostitutes, estranged from social security systems and ostracised by society, lead extremely sorry lives. Basic assistances like ration cards, health cards and identity cards are rarely possible to attain and most cannot even avail of medical facilities. They live in filthy conditions, with most of them falling prey to various sexually transmitted diseases like HIV/AIDS. Ninety-four percent of the country's three million sex workers are Indians, while the rest are mainly from neighbouring Bangladesh and Nepal. At least 600,000 minors are also employed in the profession and their number is said to increasing by almost 10 per cent every year.
-Mar 21, 2004

Mass marriage in UP village

     Kushinagar (UP): To overcome rising marriage costs, 21 couples have taken the vow at a mass ceremony in Kushinagar. The function was organised on Friday by a social organisation, in an effort to end the dowry system, where the bride's family is expected to present handsome gifts in cash or kind to their daughter. The organisers said the idea behind the mass marriage was to ease pressure on the financially backward. "Our main aim is to get those economically deprived or orphan girls married at the right age. So, we chose those girls who were economically weak," said Sudhir Shahi, an organiser. The marriages were conducted according to Hindu traditions. The newly-weds were presented with gifts comprising household articles, and a community feast was also organised on the occasion. Yogendra Kumar, one of the bridegrooms, said the occasion provided him an opportunity to marry a girl of his choice.

     "I did not want dowry. I have got a nice girl and this is why I got married here," said Yogendra Kumar. Kiran, a bride, described the marriage as a dream come true. "I am feeling very nice. I had never thought I will get married in such a nice way," said Kiran. Marriages in India are costly affairs. The family of a bride is expected to bear the expenses of a lavish wedding and give dowry. The concept of mass-marriage is gaining popularity amongst the economically backward as it eases a huge financial burden.
-Mar 13, 2004

Women in Ludhiana march against female foeticide

     Ludhiana: Social activists in Punjab on Monday held a demonstration against female foeticide after recent studies revealed a negative sex ratio in the farm rich state. According to the last survey, the sex ratio in Punjab is 874 girls for every 1,000 boys against the national average of 933. For babies upto one year the sex ratio was much worse at 747. In India's male dominated society, the women are blamed for bearing a girl child, who are considered as non-earning members and an additional burden as they have to be married off with a hefty dowry. In most cases mothers are harassed and sometimes even abandoned by in-laws for not bearing a boy, considered inheritor of the family's name and assets. Activists in Ludhiana said they wanted to put an end to the inhuman practice. "The female foeticide, which is prevelant, the killings that happen are all in the name of dowry, we have to protest against this," Charanjit Kaur, an activist said. "We are protesting against the men who torture their women and harrass them for dowry," said another activist, Jatinder Kaur. Doctors attribute the alarming rise in foeticide to the rampant misuse of ultrasound tests, which allow easy and cheap sex- determination. The rate for an ultrasound examination, an euphism for sex determination, is as low as Rs. 80. Studies reveal at least two million foetuses are killed in India every year through abortion, simply because they are female. Alarmed by the practice, the religious body of Sikhs, had also last year banned sex determination tests and female foeticide.
-Mar 8, 2004

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