The oldest profession in the newest form
Some women sell themselves for hours. Some of them do it for no price, expecting a favor in return – perhaps an opportunity for a breakthrough in the showbiz. Some of them do it for ‘pocket money’ and it varies from lakhs to thousands per hour.
There is nothing you need to do about it, unless there is blackmailing/force/inducement involved in the business.
Then there are some women, like the women in Bundelkhand in Uttar Pradesh, who sell themselves for anything that varies from Rs. 200 to Rs. 50. They are not sold for hours. They are sold forever. And for what? Food. And Survival.
Now there is definitely something that the Government which talks about country’s economic growth rates can/should do about it. The question is, where did all those announced packages for farmers go? What happened to NREGA? How well is it being implemented? What is the state government doing? What is Mayawati doing after all the statue-unveiling that she’s on to lately?
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September 6th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
powerful post !!!!
September 7th, 2009 at 1:42 am
‘Accountability’ – None !!
It’s a shame that these schemes are announced and that’s all !! I feel sad that someone should sell his/herself for Food !!
‘Breakthrough in Showbiz’ – !! Yeah, nobody cares about all that.
September 7th, 2009 at 11:58 am
wont these women get more money if they work?!
September 7th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Evidently, they are not able to do the only type of work they knew for ages – farming.
Reportedly (as per The Hindu) many of them who worked under the NREGA scheme are waiting for their wages of 8 months (some even more) and lost their trust in the scheme. Now all villagers are migrating to Delhi for work, but they are not being able to manage their day-to-day life with the cheap wages.
What other choice would they have in such situation?
September 10th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Well said !!
But I guess you only saw the ugly side of it. True. NREGA didn’t work in UP. But go back a year back and get the details of NREGA successes in AP, Kerala and other states. It was written in The Hindu only by P Sainath. He travelled extensively to write that.
I am not denying the fact that it has gone bad in UP. But the truth is its more than a success in rest of the country. And I am glad that The Hindu also bought the ugly side of it. Hopefully the Govt will take the necessary actions.
As they say good deeds are often neglected, in the midst of bad deeds
September 10th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Dhanush: Not underestimating where it has succeeded, but as the saying goes “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link”
Like you said, it is important to bring the ugly side out too.
September 10th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Jo : Ya true. The Ugly side also needs to be brought out. But then one should also complement the the good side of it. The post to a guy ,who just heard about NREGA, gives a feeling that it is a failure. The above comments express that. So it would have been better if you touched the good part of NREGA too in the same post
September 10th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
Dhanush: This post is not about NREGA, so I don’t think I need to do a ‘balancing act’ here. My reference to NREGA in this post was to show how the failure of it’s proper implementation in UP (or at least in Bundelkhand) has not helped the farmers whose lives have already been made difficult by the drought.