Feminism Truth

The  “Global Risks Report 2020”  published by lists  Climate Change  as the top global threat over the next decade while the Global Climate Risk Index places India as the fifth most vulnerable country due to events catalyzed by climate change. The past few years have seen an increase in awareness of climate change impact on the Indian agricultural ecosystem both among policymakers as well as the general populace. Problem According to the  Economic Survey , agriculture, at present employs around 49% of the Indian workforce while 16% of our GDP comes from agricultural and its allied activities. In addition to these, agriculture is central to the food security of the nation and any ripple in this sector is bound to cause a domino effect in the whole economy. Climate change and myriad issues associated with it such as greenhouse gas emissions, increased frequency of extreme weather outcomes, average annual temperatures taking a northward shift and rising se...

According to the Economic Survey 2017-18, the agricultural industry employs more than 50 percent of the total workforce in India and contributes around 17-18 percent to the country’s GDP. Talking about women, India’s agricultural industry employs 80 to 100 million female farmers. From preparing the land, selecting seeds, transplanting the seedlings, applying manure/fertilisers/pesticides and then harvesting, winnowing and threshing, women work harder and longer than male farmers. Despite all their hard labour in the field, National Commission for Women ’s data suggests that Bihar’s agricultural industry employs 85% of female but they are not officially treated as farmers, and are either labelled as “agricultural labourers” or “cultivators”.  It is rare to hear narratives of women working in agriculture and its allied activities in Bihar. Be it farmers’ suicide or drought or flood or any government scheme, whole media is seen flooded with male farmers’ visuals only. But here...

Which shop did you rushed to first as you heard of lockdown? Grocery shop, isn’t it? Who provides us with the raw materials of the groceries? Obviously, farmers. So, can you imagine your life without farmers? I cannot. Because farmers provide us with one of the most basic necessities of life i.e food. Since the coronavirus pandemic started globally, one scene has been common everywhere—empty grocery store shelves as families rushed to stores preparing to settle for long run. But as the shoppers and consumers buy food items, have they thought of the farmers that produce our food? Farmers that today are in the fields, in this coronavirus pandemic, often without sick pay or health insurance, planting and harvesting our nation’s food supply. According to Food and Agriculture organisation of United Nation, agriculture, with its allied sectors, is the largest source of livelihoods in India. 70 percent of its rural households still depend primarily on agriculture for their livelihood, ...

To The District Magistrate Gaya Subject: Requesting to provide better menstrual hygiene facilities for girls in Gaya Respected Sir, Most humbly and respectfully, I would like to draw your attention towards the much-needed menstrual hygiene and related facilities in Gaya. As you are aware that menstrual practices still face social, cultural and religious restrictions in many parts of India, therefore, it is need of the hour to create awareness about menstrual hygiene. Gaya being a small town is not left with these restrictions. More than being hygienic, people are much concerned about the ill norms and cultural beliefs associated with menstruation. The adolescent girls are not prepared and made aware about menstruation so they face numerous difficulties at home, schools, and work places. Some get afraid, some are ashamed and some even feel cursed about it. India’s 113 million adolescent girls are vulnerable at the onset of menarche. Adolescence is said to be one of the mos...

As per Census 2011, the population of India is more than 121 Crore with 48.5% females, 949 females to 1000 males in rural India against 929 females to 1000 males in urban India. Therefore, contribution of male can not be supressed by that of female. The female literacy rate according to the 2011 census is 64.63% whereas the male literacy rate is over 80%. Again, the decision making can not be taken over by female. As per Census 2011, the workforce participation rate for females is 25.51% against 53.26% for males. So, it is bit difficult for females to manage things all alone without the help of men. Women in India are becoming independent but the number is still very less in comparison to men. I always bought into the popular arguments that men and women were basically the same and that we only became different under the influence of culture, environment and society. But then several events changed my tune. I learned that God had created men and women uniquely differen...

In the current era, when India is running awareness campaigns like “ Beti Bachao Beti Padhao “, the desire for sons remains strong among Indian parents. The  sex ratio at birth  (SRB) has dropped continuously since Census 2011, coming down from 909 girls per thousand boys in 2011-2013 to 896 girls in 2015-2017, says the latest SRS Statistical Report. This data suggests that girl children are still unwanted by the majority of Indians. I am almost five months pregnant, so the most frequently asked questions are, “Is that a boy or a girl?” and “Do you want a baby boy or baby girl?” These questions are really disappointing and sometimes even depressing. Why do people fail to understand that it’s not in my hands to produce a child with the gender of my choice? And how can it matter to a mother if it is a boy or a girl? Why is it necessary to know the sex of the child? I am just surprised at how rarely anyone asks a question related to how my pregnancy...

It’s been around 30 weeks of my pregnancy and I do not know if you are a girl or a boy, because pre-natal sex determination is crime in India. But I really do not know why I always feel the strength inside which reminds that you are one of the strongest girls. This feeling gives me immense pleasure and I enjoy every moment with you. But I also want you to know that being a girl is not easy to sustain in our society.  “Don’t shout! Be polite! Don’t argue! Maintain your modesty! Be a good wife/ daughter/ sister! You are the nose of the family!”- you would be asked for these and many more commands in all your life. But you do not need to follow it blindly.  Life of a girl is heavily fed on guilt and it becomes more tough as you grow up. Sometimes we are brought up making us feel guilty of our existence. In all the situation whether you are beautiful, ugly, fat, thin, tall or short, the society puts you down. If you are beautiful, you are forced to feel guilty because y...

From ages, India has been a patriarchal society where men have occupied a prominent place in every dimension. Women were treated as fragile creature who were depended on men for their existence and sustenance. Therefore in such circumstances, women’s struggle in male dominating society can easily be understood. Women were considered good for nothing specially when it came to do something intellectual or artistic. They were denied of their basic rights to education and were not allowed to go to school. Their only job was to raise their children after marriage and do the household chores. Having such background, it was very difficult for women to read, write, make decisions or express themselves in form of speech, story or poetry. Then “Kamala Das” emerged as a poet who honestly voiced the pressures and problems faced by women at that time. She fought against the social norms and customs that drove women to a dark corner. She found herself and other women in a custom ridden, orthodox...

In Bihar, agriculture with its allied sectors, is the key to the overall development of the State economy along with the largest source of livelihood. According to the Agriculture Ministry of Bihar, it is the backbone of Bihar's economy as 77% of workforce are involved in agriculture and are generating nearly 24.84% of the State Domestic Product. Talking in broader context, in India FAO says, 70 percent of rural households are still depended primarily on agriculture for their livelihood, with 82 percent of farmers being small and marginal. Also Indian agriculture sector contributes 18 per cent to GDP and provides employment to 50% of the countries workforce. Now the question arises on the workforce behind these activities. Google “Farmer”, you get to see the images of mostly the male farmers not the female farmers. Show-cased as male-dominated profession, women have been often excluded from the farming narratives. Most of the narratives are associated stereotypically with far...

The very mention of Bihar brings images of an under-developed society into the mind -- when the state clearly has emerged as one of the fastest growing regions in India, clocking over 10 per cent annual growth for the past decade. According to the Bihar Economic Survey, in 2016-17, the growth rate was 11.3 per cent, while the national average was 7 per cent. Rapid growth in infrastructure, energy and communication sectors and public investment in roads played a major role in bringing the turnaround. Other important factor that contributed in the spurt of opportunities was the plethora of campaigners who worked tirelessly for changing the perception about Bihar. Amongst the campaigners are two women -- Yashi Malviya and Sukriti Yadav -- who took it upon themselves to inform the world how beautiful Bihar can be. The two women, both of them journalists, began a campaign through their website 'Bihar Bytes' and travelled to as many as 32 districts of Bihar. From their trav...

The nation once again goes to conduct another general election for the 17th Lok Sabha which is going to be the most consequential election in the history of independent India. We, the women of India consider it a crucial battle whose aftermath will remain the same as in last five years. The rate of increasing sexual violence, honor crimes, atrocities against Dalit, Adivasi and minority women, rising unemployment, hunger and relentless price rise is not going to reduce. I hereby wish to draw public attention to the issues that have affected women in recent times. The concerns highlighted above need to become part of the mainstream political agenda in the forthcoming elections and in future government policy to ensure equality and dignity for the women of this country. Women from Dalit and Adivasi communities face structural violence and rape from those who wield enormous social and economic power which is very unjust. Crimes in the name of honor continue and the government fails ...

The day is here. My social media and phone is flooded with wishes and quotes reminding me of the celebration of special day for women i.e International Women’s Day. Early morning in conversation with my roommate, she told that her office is providing free lunch on Women’s Day eve. I said its really a great initiative. She blatantly replied I would have been more happy if they would have made my salary equal to the men working on the same position as mine. And then this would have been a good gesture to make women feel equal to men. Today women will be getting sweet messages wishing them Happy Women’s Day, after all its their day today. And tomorrow people can behave with them in their own ways and manners. They can go back to the same old routine of harassing women of their choices of clothes, threatening them of rape and acid attacks. Tomorrow they can easily deny their equality and make this place uneasy to live in. We can witness much progress has been made to protect and pr...