Problems of urban women workers

Ram Rattan Sharma
In the emerging complex social scenario, women have a pivotal role to play. They can no longer be considered as mere harbingers of peace, but are emerging as the source of power and symbol of progress. Indian culture attaches great importance to women, who constitute almost half of its population. Therefore, India has been symbolized as “Mother India”. Keeping in  view the exemplary qualities of women. They have now taken up professional roles in order to create a meaning for themselves or out of economic necessity. They have risen above socio-cultural traditions to take serious note of themselves, their potentialities and capabilities. The traditional role of a housewife has gradually evolved into the dual and mere fulfilling role of a working woman and housewife. Some of the factors responsible for this change are better education, changing socio cultural values, and the need for supplementary income caused by inflation. The problems and difficulties of working women are environmental, social and psychological.
In the environmental sphere, a working woman, specially a married one, has a dual responsibility looking after the home, husband and children on one side and here job on the other. This causes a lot of strain for her. Though she may be adding considerably to her families income, her job is looked upon as “Secondary”, and her husband and in-laws often expect her to do all the work of a full time housewife. She gets to spend less time with her children, and this often makes her feel guilty of neglecting them. Studies have shown that the majority of husbands wanted their wives to work for financial reasons. They were not prepared to share the household chores or help in looking after the children. This is a typical Indian attitude in a male dominated society, where the men feel it beneath their dignity to help in the domestic sphere. As a result the working woman over strains herself in trying to manage both home and work spheres so she is tired, irritable and unpleasant at the end of the day. The family happiness and peace are thus disturbed. If she gives more importance to her work and neglects her home, she is not only accused to being vain, inefficient and useless as a wife, housewife and mother, but is made to feel guilty for it, of ten frictions and tensions arise in the married life due to all these factors.
In many cases, the married working woman has to give up her pay packet in her in-laws or to her husband. As a result, even after slogging all month long, she has hardly any economic independence and cannot spend her salary as she wishes. In some cases, she is not even given pocket money to meet her personal expenses. Finding out a marriage partner for an earning girl is always a difficult job. There are persons who are prejudiced against working women. They feel that they may not be good housewives. With their well developed personalities and economic independence, it is often difficult to find a suitable partner for them. Another problem common to most urban women workers is their limited mobility – they are often unwilling to accept employment away from their homes. The absence of suitable housing facilities at places where jobs are available is the most important single factor that limits mobility. The question of wages is perhaps one of the most important problems for women workers, unlike in Western Countries, where women work just for the sake of it, or for “Pin money”, in India. Women go in for work to add to the family income, which is often meager and in case of a single woman or widow, to support herself and her children. The working woman in India faces some difficulties at the operational level also. Unlike her western counter part, who have a lot of time saving equipments and gadgets to take the drudgery out of their household work, she has to do most of the work manually, there are hardly any crèches where she can put her children.
The efficiency of a working woman is always suspected. The co-workers in the office cannot mentally accept the superiority of a woman’s works. Her subordinate males do not like her authority over them. Another problem for women workers is the limited number of jobs available. Growth opportunities and freedom of choice of occupation are not available to Indian Women, married working women face the problem of separation from their husbands and families due to transfer to different places. Proper accommodation is also not available at certain places to women workers. Surveys have shown that transport is a big problem for women workers, specially in big cities. Women often have to commute large distances in over-crowded buses and trains, which leave them exhausted even before they start their day’s work. The return journey is equally tiring, and she hardly has any energy left for the household chores, or taking part in family activities.
Children of the working women feel neglected, they miss their mother’s love and attention, also elder children may form bad habits like smoking, drinking or even get addicted drugs. The children’s personality gets distorted. Working women are also often exploited by their male bosses.
Inspite of several acts being passed for the benefit of women workers, these are often full of loopholes and ambiguities, which the employers take advantage of. Also, many women workers, even in urban areas, are not aware of their rights under these acts.
The problems of urban women workers in India today are multifarious and multidimensional. Their problems can be solved, if women are educated, we should create facilities for their education in urban and rural areas. Only when she is educated, could manage her dual responsibilities of home and work and could master the mechanics of systematic working and efficient planning. Women should be given practical training in their work, so that their efficiency increases. They should also be trained to develop their capabilities of decision making and individual thinking. Women should be made aware of their constitutional and legal rights both in their work and in the social sphere. The attitude of the husband and other family members should be changed through mass media and other ways. Women should realize that opportunities will not land in their laps. They will have to create them and if need be, fight for them. A woman should be proud of being woman and a professional at the same time. The main problem of a working mother is the care of her children, especially if they are young, proper crèches should be available at or near her place of work. The working conditions and environment of working women should be improved. More seminars, conferences and workshops on women should be organized, and women should be encouraged to participate in them and express their views. They should be encouraged to join trade unions. Protection should be given against harassment, discrimination should be abolished and employees should comploy with the laws relating to women. Moreover, equal opportunities with regarding to training, employment promotion and working conditions should be ensured wage gaps between men and women should be reduced.
Working women form a major chunk of society today. Their presence, aspirations and problems cannot be ignored. It is imperative that they are looked upon as individuals engaged in gainful employment and be given the respect and status they so right fully deserve in society. In modern India, there is hardly a single office or factory where women are not employed. The precarious economic – social situation of women in the labour market of India demands that measures be introduced to overcome their problems.
(The author is former Deputy Librarian, University of Jammu)

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