Nihgt-Shift & Women

The decision of the Karnataka Government banning employment of women in night shifts deserves to be condemned in strong words for its gender-bias. This antediluvian decision comes as a cruel joke played on the women who have won this legitimate right after a prolonged legal battle only recently. This piece of legislation also has the fire-power to damage the socio-economic status of women even as they are fighting very hard for their legitimate space in the society which is still patently male-dominated. This seems to be a part of the male-chauvinism which cannot digest the independence and progress the women have begun to make of late thanks to liberalisation. Such anachronistic moves will only fritter away the little gender-justice the Indian society has begun to witness due to the globalisation.

The legislators seek to legislate laws against women and children with little or no public debate on the efficacy of such laws and bans. The administration, which cannot handle the law and order or enforce other statutory orders, finds it easy to proscribe something than acting proactively in the larger interest of the society. Some time ago, the Dance Bars were banned in Maharashtra citing the law and order problem. Now, the Government of Karnataka says banning the women from work after 8.00 pm in the evening will lessen the law and order problem and secure the safety of women. The women in turn ask what about the socio-financial security of the women who will be deprived of their bread-butter-jam due to such bans. Does not the government have any constitutional and moral obligation to ensure safety of the women who work in nightshifts in stead of trivializing the issue? Can the night-shifts of the Nurses be stopped based on this illogical and lop-sided argument? So the crux of the matter is that the government wants short-cuts to administrative problems in stead of finding a viable and gender-equitable solution. The hunger of the people has least priority for the policy-makers. They want the people to take birth in debt, live in debt and die in debt with due apologies to the great economist Mahanalobis.