Daily life is a struggle for rural women in state ; 34 per cent women want to change their profession ; Kuldeep Chauhan ; Tribune News Service The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Himachal Pradesh Edition 16 October 2014 Shimla, October 15 Women are the backbone of rural economy. But alongside bearing the brunt of water problems, fuel and fodder shortage, they are increasingly becoming victims of monkey and wild animal menace. Urging that they needed a rural women policy for better life, 34 per cent said they wanted to change their profession. The rural women expressed this on the occasion of International Rural Woman Day today. The worsening part of the life of rural women, living around the capital city and tourist high spots of Kufri, Mashobra, Naldehra, Chail and others, is that their struggle for survival has multiplied over the years. To earn a square meal, they have to fight an army of prowling monkeys, wild boars and stray cattle. They struggle for clean drinking water for self and animal as the water sources are polluted due to leaking sewerage or have dried up or tapped for city people. Santosh Kumari said there was no health facility for a village of 50 in Bhanrandi, Koti panchayat. “The teachers posted in the rural areas say it does not matter whether you send your children to school or not as they have to do odd jobs”, she added. The government has allowed hotels in places like Kufri, Mashobra and Fagu, which have installed big water storage tanks to cater to tourists, but villagers are deprived of enough water, said Shakuntla Devi from Kufri. “There are a few link roads and those which exist are not approved by the PWD for vehicle and ambulance as the government has no policy of rural areas”, Devika Sharma and Kamala Thakur added. “The sources like Churhat nullah, Jagroti, Guma and Ashwani khud have been tapped for supply to the hoteliers, hostels, tourists and urban residents”, said Dr Kuldip Tanvar, state president of Himachal Kisan Sabha. The government needed to intervene and make provisions in MGNREGA for rural rain water harvesting schemes rather than worrying about the water supply from Giri to Delhi, he added. But the rural women have joined hands, stressing that the monkeys needed to be eliminated to save their crops and homes. “There were cases where husbands thrashed women for failing to guard the fields from monkeys,” observed Ramesh Verma from Sangrah Sirmaur. He urged the government to solve the problem. Inserted from
Posted on: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 14:08:33 +0000