Eleventh Five Year Plan

192 Eleventh Five Year Plan6.35 In view of the large number of women employedas domestic workers, the plan will make attemptsto organize them and frame regulations with respectto hours of work, holidays, etc. for them. Cases ofbrutality and abuse will be registered immediatelyand legal support will be provided to the domesticworkers to prevent their exploitation.SKILL DEVELOPMENT6.36 Globalization has put a premium on skills andhigher levels of education, which are often out of reachof women in the unorganized sector. A key issue in theEleventh Plan is to enable these women to secure higherlevel and better paid jobs through vocational trainingand skill development. Women need technology support,credit facilities, and marketing support to take upentrepreneurial activities in new and emerging trades.At the same time, women’s traditional skills such asknowledge of herbal plants, weaving, food processing,or providing ‘care’ will be recognized and marketed.MAKING EMPLOYMENT AND NATIONAL RURALEMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE ACT (NREGA)GENDER RESPONSIVE6.37 Currently, most of the works included underNREGA require strenuous physical labour and womenare sometimes effectively ‘disqualified’. The EleventhPlan will ensure that wage works conducive to womenand their skills are also included under NREGA.6.38 It will guarantee that if they demand, women willbe provided employment opportunities underNREGA. It will also ensure that the Minimum WagesAct, 1948 and Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 are implementedby all States and that their implementationis monitored by the Ministry of Labour and Employment.It will encourage higher representation of womenamong Labour Officers. Besides ensuring equal payfor work, it will also ensure that no work is definedas ‘man’s’ work and hence denied to women.ACCESS TO RESOURCES AND ECONOMIC ASSETS6.39 International evidence shows that women’s accessto land or homestead is positively linked to the family’sfood security, child survival, health, education, andchildren’s exposure to domestic violence. Women13World Bank, 2007.with land and house are also at lower risk from spousalviolence, have greater bargaining power in the labourmarket, and are better able to protect themselves andtheir children from destitution if the father dies fromill health, natural disaster, or HIV/AIDS. Indirectly,it also reduces maternal mortality both by enhancingwomen’s nutrition and medical support and reducingthe risk of domestic violence during pregnancy. Thesesynergies and interlinkages are what make asset creationin women’s hands a critical part of the Eleventh Planagenda for women’s economic empowerment.Amenities for Urban Poor Women6.40 The Eleventh Plan recognizes slum dwellers, mostof whom are employed in the informal sector, as importantcontributors to cities’ economy. Even thoughrelocation of slums may sometimes be inevitable,appropriate measures need to be taken to ensure thatthe slum dwellers, especially women, do not loseaccess to livelihood opportunities and basic amenities.Today, almost 30–40% of India’s urban population livesin slums. Over 62% of this population does not haveaccess to sanitation services and 25% does not haveaccess to water. 13 Since it is generally women who fetchwater, they spend much of their time and energy atwater pumps, in water queues, or walking to othercolonies. The Asian Development Bank (2007) estimatesthat India’s housing shortage is as high as 40million units, suggesting that more than 200 millionpeople are living in chronically poor housing conditionsor on the pavements. In the absence of toilets,poor women are forced to defecate in public placessuch as railway tracks, parks, open spaces, or evenpublic pavements. Not only do they feel ashamed bythis, but it is a serious health and security hazard asthey can only use these public spaces in the dark. Thusprovision of clean drinking water, toilets, and sanitationin urban slums will be an important challengefor ensuring gender justice in the Eleventh Plan.Homes and Homesteads for Poor Women6.41 Home ownership not only provides shelter butalso serves as collateral in credit markets and increasessocial status and security in the event of natural ormanmade disasters. As more than half the womenworkers in the unorganized, non-agricultural sector