It was perhaps the women and their laborious savings that saved the little village of Koderma in Jharkhand when the migrant crisis hit during the first 2020 Covid-19 lockdown.
When the lockdown was announced, over six lakh migrants from Jharkhand were reportedly stuck outside the state with no way to return home.
On the second day, March 26, the Jharkhand government announced a central helpline number for those stranded elsewhere. Although that provided some respite for the men to pull through the onerous journey back home, the depleting resources added to the challenging times.
But in Koderma village, another story was taking shape, one of empowerment. While the men struggled to earn, the women who were "left behind", wives, and relatives of the migrant workers, started taking charge.
"It was the women who came to the rescue household economy by taking up chores considered to be "male" in the absence of their husbands. Their bits of savings brought some relief to the families and to the village economy as well,바카라 says Mausmi, co-founder of Jharkhand Anti-trafficking Network (JATN).
Social workers across 130 villages in Jharkhand have long observed an accidental wave of women바카라s liberation with the large-scale migration of men. Due to men moving out, it바카라s the women who shoulder most of the responsibilities within and outside the house. They also reportedly take charge of carrying out official works and eventually become aware of their social and political rights, which otherwise are perceived as a male-centric domain.
바카라Like Koderma, such a situation is rampant across several non-tribal districts of Chatra, Hazaribagh, Deogarh, Giridihi, Godda, and so on,바카라 says Hussain Imam Fatmi, Secretary and state coordinator of JATN. Jharkhand sees a lot of 바카라distress바카라 migration, whereby men have to migrate inter-state or intra-state to find a livelihood. It바카라s the women and their stories to attain potential that are left behind unnoticed.
Feminisation of agriculture
In Jharkhand, men mostly undertake seasonal migration where they leave between December and January, after harvesting the monsoon crops, for around six to seven months and return before the sowing season. 바카라It is during this time that women begin to tend to indoor and outdoor chores to have everything in place. With their male counterparts away, they also feel a sense of freedom and less restriction to go about their daily chores,바카라 he says.
바카라Jabh un log ghar mein rehte hai, toh thoda bahar jana toh dikkat hoti hai. Par jabh in log bahar jaatey hai, mahilaye aapni tarah se bohot kaam kar paatey hai (When men stay home, it is difficult to step outside. However, with them gone, we have the freedom to work as per our wishes),바카라 Neelam, who is associated with the migrant forum at Serandag village, tells Outlook. Further, she admits that when husbands stay away, women can do the work in a way that is less burdening for them. 바카라It also allows us more freedom to venture outdoor, for as long as we want, and invest our time among women and in women forums.바카라
Some money is also sent back home by their husbands and sons, and if that does not suffice, women also take up small-scale businesses such as stitching, handicrafts, and so on. This creates a sense of 바카라financial liberty바카라, as pointed out by social workers, that is born out of keeping a record of household expenses which are otherwise viewed as 바카라men-centric바카라 affairs.
바카라Financial power is one of the most important aspects to create women바카라s liberty. Financial mobility allows women to understand social dynamics and also venture into earning their own income. For families who own land, women also start learning to keep a record of the profit and loss from the harvest,바카라 says Masumi, who adds that such tasks also inadvertently push women into the habit of savings. And these savings are what you can fall back on in times of crisis.
This has led to a 바카라feminisation of agriculture바카라, where women in many states in the northern belt are now given a farmer바카라s card which gives access to several policies given to male farmers.
With this sense of empowerment, women in these villages also take up initiatives to form assemblies for the welfare of women and children that are left behind, and begin to even attend meetings at an official level. Here, the additional 33 per cent reservation of women representation at the Gram Panchayat and Gram Sabhas has rendered helpful in decision-making processes that demand female participation.
Further, to harbour 바카라safe migration바카라, women also form migrant forums in their respective villages to spread awareness of having migrant cards, issued by the state government. These collectives among other self-help groups (SHGs), with help of NGO networks, work towards realising women바카라s social and political rights.
Additionally, social organisations such as SEWA-Bharat undertake multiple initiatives to increase awareness raised around issues concerning the health of women and family planning.
Citing an example of the same in West Bengal바카라s Murshidabad, SEWA-Bharat state coordinator Sanchita Mitra, says, 바카라When we were doing work around women바카라s health-related training when men were not there, we saw a shift in mind and health from women바카라s part in family planning. This change eventually influenced the husbands and they also started taking measures of family planning, which was otherwise unthinkable.바카라
Sanchita believes that such a shift was only possible because of women coming together to a platform, where they felt empowered being surrounded by knowledge and awareness.
However, the idea of empowerment is 바카라complex and diverse바카라 and must be approached from different angles.
Empowerment seen as more of a 바카라challenge바카라
Even though the freedom to undertake outdoor activities increases, household chores don바카라t decrease.
바카라Kaam bahut badh jaati hai. Jab bahar jaatey hai, kheto mein or itti-bhattey mein, bachhey ko sath mein leke jaana hota hai (Work increases a lot. When we venture out to the field or the brickyard, we also need to take the children with us),바카라 tells Ranjana, a Mahila Panchayat Praitinidhi Mukhya (chief), Bagra village.
Ranjana and Neelam add that the onus to bring up children and tend to all domestic chores, in this case, completely falls upon the women while men stay away for months to earn a livelihood. 바카라They know that they will stay at home for a very brief time and hence, they prefer not to bother themselves much with whatever has been going around. So the additional responsibility of outdoor chores, without much support from them, adds to the existing demanding household tasks,바카라 they say.
Additionally, the sense of financial liberty flowing through women often creates insecurity among men and the tables turn. 바카라There are growing reports of violence every time men migrate back to the villages. When they return, they often have to ask for money from their wives which is a pinch to the male ego. Women stepping outside also becomes a restricted business and all of this leads to abusive behaviour,바카라 tells Mausmi, who cited this situation as a prime example of what happened during Covid-19 lockdowns.
Further, there is an indirect impact on agriculture, on what is being produced and consumed. 바카라Millets are a rich source of vitamins and iron. However, with men migrating out, millet-rich areas often stop producing it due to the arduous process of harvesting. Without the men in the village and the increasing burden of work, women find it difficult to produce the crop. Hence, migration of men has an indirect impact on food and health of women and children,바카라 says Sanchita.
Most of the time, when mothers have to undertake migration, children are left behind with their grandparents. Social workers observe that a lack of parental guidance often makes the situation vulnerable for these young girls and boys, which leads to stunted emotional growth, child marriage, and several crimes including human trafficking.
When men leave, women바카라s identity as a worker comes under a crisis. So, besides picking up the work left behind by men and earmarked for them, what is truly needed is, as believed by social workers, 바카라a separate solidarity movement that must be undertaken by various social organisers to make women the leaders바카라.
