PATIALA: After studying in-depth the exploitation of women labourers in rural Punjab, especially the dalits, a team from Punjabi University in Patiala has laid bare some startling facts about the high debts, sexual exploitation, gender disparity, caste discrimination and exclusion from the political process of these women.The study ‘Socio-Economic Conditions and Political Participation of Rural Women Labourers in Punjab’ by Professor Gian Singh, an expert on rural economics, along with his team, Dharampal, Gurinder Kaur, Veerpal Kaur and Jyoti, highlighted the plight of rural women labourers in the state and will help policy makers take informed decision.According to the study, 92% of the rural women labourers are dalits, 7.08 % come from other backward castes and the remaining are from the general category. The researchers have collected primary data from 1,017 households across 12 districts of Punjab and it revealed that women labourers were suffering as a direct consequence of the agrarian crisis that gripped the state.Dr Gian Singh said the agrarian crises that hit the state after the fading of the Green Revolution, forced the women labourers into a debt trap. “Although the amount of loan taken is not much in most of the cases, with only a few thousand rupees in the outstanding, yet their finical position makes it difficult for them to repay debts,” said Dr Singh, adding that the loans, taken mostly from local moneylenders at high interests, put women in a vulnerable situation.The study also pointed out that many of the women had to face sexual exploitation at some point, but 70% of them kept quiet when asked about their experiences. “The reality can be inferred from this. A lot of work needs to be done in this direction,” said Dr Gian Singh.The study also highlighted the working conditions of these women. According to it, 90.46% women were not even aware of the standard working hours and minimum wages ensured under the law and 36.87% women are not being paid equal wages when compared with men. The conditions also leave them susceptible to diseases. A total of 91.84% of women work without any facilities likes first-aid, canteens and toilets and daycare centres, found the study.Diljit Singh, a social worker who has been working with the dalits, especially in the rural belt of Fatehgarh Sahib district , said the general attitude among the well-to-do families in the villages justified the exploitation of women, especially the dalits.The study, however, hailed MNREGA as a good step forward towards helping the women find a better source of income and suggested that the programme should be extended through the year. It also recommended minimum wages of Rs 600 per day against Rs 240 being paid now.Dr Surinder Singh Thind, a retired professor from the department of economics, Punjabi University, who has also worked with the Planning Commission of India, said that despite various government welfare schemes to uplift the downtrodden, women labourers working in the rural areas of Punjab still languish in poverty. According to Dr Thind, prior to this study there had been no primary data available to the policy makers and lack of data has, over the years, affected the formulation of good policies.

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