Tag:

pandemic

Women Rights To Contraception In India And Preventing Unwanted Pregnancy In India

by Guest Author 08/12/2024

written by Guest Author

By Advocate Meenu Padha and Varushi Yadav

Introduction

It would not be wrong to argue that in India, the concept of human rights was first introduced and systematically institutionalised in 1950 when our country’s Constitution came into force. Many governmental programmes and methods have been created to supplement the rising acknowledgement of an individual’s rights, and the human rights movement has witnessed significant progress and success.

In India, the issue of reproductive rights remains uncertain. While the importance of both men and women’s rights to choose and control their own reproductive functions has grown in prominence, the concept’s introduction in India is particularly difficult due to the country’s complex social structures, where procreation is frequently seen as a social expectation and individual rights are often overlooked. Reproductive rights, in a broader sense, have received greater attention in recent years. This is due, in part, to the unwavering efforts of civil society organisations, who have emphasised the importance of international treaties in the Indian context.

Experts have pointed out that reproductive rights are an intrinsic aspect of human rights in general, as well as our Constitution on a national level, and that India owes them to all its women and those who identify as such. Reproductive rights and a larger human rights framework are mutually interdependent. Reproductive rights receive their meaning and force from long-recognized human rights, just as human rights cannot be realised without championing women’s reproductive rights. However, how the two are combined in practice is unclear. Indeed, explaining to an Indian audience that reproductive rights pertain to everyone, regardless of age or marital status, is a tough notion to grasp. It’s no surprise, then, that reproductive rights have yet to be fully established, despite the fact that they are an inalienable component of every human being.

Miserable Condition That We Need To Be Aware Of

In India, one woman dies every 15 minutes during pregnancy and childbirth due to lack of healthcare. Despite the fact that India legalised abortion over five decades ago, access is highly limited, and one woman in India is believed to die every three hours as a result of unsafe abortion. Despite national legislation prohibiting the marriage of girls under the age of 18, India continues to have the highest number of child weddings; and despite regulations and initiatives ensuring women’s maternal healthcare, India is responsible for 20% of all maternal deaths worldwide. Several states have established coercive population policies that bar families with more than two children from assistance programmes, government jobs, political engagement, and access to education and health care – all without ensuring that couples have access to a full range of contraceptive treatments.

Furthermore, Indian women face one of the world’s highest rates of HIV/AIDS infection and discrimination if infected, as well as forced abortions of female foetuses, trafficking for forced prostitution, custodial rape in government institutions, workplace sexual harassment, and harmful cultural practices that seriously undermine reproductive health. As numerous national and international stakeholders battle to give meaning to essential ideas such as women empowerment, rights, and choice, the right to reproductive health, including abortion, takes on special significance in the Indian context. A woman, for example, should have the freedom to choose whether or not she wants to marry, who she wants to marry, whether or not she wants to have children, how many children she wants to have, and the spacing between them. This is significant because, while both the male and female contribute to procreation, it is the female who is biologically responsible for ensuring the baby’ complete growth.

In the past, India’s reproductive health legislation and policies have failed to embrace a rights-based approach. Simply put, based on the various definitions of reproductive rights, they can be said to include some or all of the following rights: the right to safe and legal abortion; the right to control one’s reproductive functions; the right to access in order to make reproductive choices free of coercion, discrimination, and violence; and the right to access education about contraception and sexually transmitted diseases. The need for us to recognise and address these as rights has become even more apparent in the midst of the pandemic when women have been left to suffer as a result of massive changes in family and social dynamics, disruption in peer support, and a lack of health facilities – because they have not been informed and empowered to demand what is due to them.

According to a new survey issued, over 139 million women and girls in India currently use contemporary contraception techniques. The progress made in family planning over the last eight years is detailed in a study issued by FP2020, a global collaboration that supports the reproductive rights of women and girls.

Reproductive Laws And Rights One Should Be Aware Of

In 2021, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Amendment Act 2021 was passed with certain amendments in the MTP Act including all women being allowed to seek safe abortion services on grounds of contraceptive failure, increase in gestation limit to 24 weeks for special categories of women, and opinion of one provider required up to 20 weeks of gestation. Abortion can be performed until 24 weeks of pregnancy after the MTP Amendment Act 2021 has come in force by notification in Gazette from 24th September 2021. The government’s public national health insurance funds, Ayushman Bharat and Employees’ State Insurance cover abortion completely, with the package rate for surgical abortion set at Rs 15,500 which includes consultation, therapy, hospital stays, medication, Ultrasonography, and any follow-up treatments. The package rate for medical abortion is Rs1,500 which includes consultation and Ultrasonography.

Despite the fact that safe abortions are a state-mandated service, only around a quarter of abortions are performed at public health institutions. The majority of public health services in rural areas do not provide safe abortion services due to a lack of resources and equipment. Despite the fact that this law allows women to get safe abortions under specific circumstances, there are still a number of obstacles to overcome.

Covid 19 Impacts On Contraception And Safe Abortion Services

During COVID-19, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) deemed contraception and safe abortion services to be essential health care. COVID-19, on the other hand, has increased the existing difficulties in obtaining these services. Abortion is a health care service that saves lives and protects the health and well-being of women and girls. Understanding how organizations have adapted their safe abortion care programmes to maintain service delivery while seeking to protect their clients, staff and communities from contracting COVID-19, is vital, Covid-19 has wreaked havoc on many aspects of our lives across the globe, reproductive health and family planning are no exception. Over the last 18 months, access to women’s health care services, including contraception, family planning and abortion, has been severely disrupted. As a result, an estimated two million women have experienced unwanted pregnancies. Furthermore, a survey conducted by the World Health Organization suggested a 68% disruption to family planning and contraceptive services across 105 countries.

Although still reeling from the effects of the sudden pandemic onset, the health system over the last year attempted to adapt to meet the growing need for effective women’s care and foster preparedness. One shining example of this was the sudden rise in the provision and adoption of online teleconsultations and digital resources. Availability and accessibility posed two critical components that needed strengthening in care delivery. With the advent of digitalization in the country, spearheaded by the government’s flagship Digital India initiative, we have advanced every day, reaching women from more remote and far-flung corners of rural India with digital platforms. Due to a decline in in-clinic consults, travel restrictions, and overburdened infrastructure and practitioners, Covid provided a significant obstacle to getting such treatment, adding to existing limits in women’s health — social stigma, misinformation, lack of understanding, and family pressures. The health system was forced to prioritize temporary contraceptives like condoms and the oral contraceptive pill above longer-term choices like intra-uterine contraceptive devices (IUCDs) and sterilization, especially during the first lockdown, which limited the basket of treatment options for women.

Conclusion

The social backdrop in India substantially influences women’s reproductive behaviour, defining the pressures, limits, and options available to them. Gender-biased norms and practices that regulate family matters severely limit women’s ability to exercise their reproductive rights. At a higher level, there are various apparent inconsistencies in how policies are made, services are offered, and how demographic trends and aspirations concerning family size and composition impact contraception and abortion demand. Despite the fact that India was one of the first countries in the world to adopt legal and regulatory frameworks ensuring access to abortion and contraception, women and girls still face major obstacles to fully exercising their reproductive rights – it is time to change that. Let us vow to support and steer reproductive rights on this Human Rights Day, not only because we want healthier women, but also because we want empowered women and girls.

08/12/2024 0 comments 26 views

Capitalism & Its Effect On Women

by Guest Author 08/12/2024

written by Guest Author

By Pooja Bhattacharjee

Capitalism is an economic system in which means of production are privately owned and the decisions with respect to production (what, how and when to produce) are largely determined by the forces of the free market that are largely based on profits.

Capitalism structurally oppresses, restricts, and inhibits the access of marginalized individuals, minority communities, and differently abled persons by regulating the opportunities available to them. Based on such structures of inequities, it further exacerbates sexism, casteism, ableism, and racism. The commodification of women’s labour is at its peak, courtesy of the unequal power structures normalized by capitalism.

Feminism is a socio-economic and political ideology focused on dismantling gender discriminatory structures. It’s about fighting for and creating equality and a good life for everyone, regardless of their sex, gender, race, ethnicity, education, income, religion, or where they live. These goals cannot be achieved in capitalism. Using minority communities and individuals to generate economic and social value in service of reinforcing inequitable social stratification, race and social difference generate economic and social value for feminism when women are lauded for “overcoming” struggles based on gender, race, disability, and so on to fit themselves into a one-size-fits-all notion of feminist progress.

The focus for improving institutional sexism in the workplace is thus placed upon improving the gender pay gap. Solutions to alleviate the problem have been widely debated and disputed. Some argue that women should be remunerated for their ‘household chores’ (which would hardly serve to de-gender the concept of housework and thus maintains the sexist ideology that is associated with it); others say that working hours need to be more flexible to accommodate working mothers, while yet others argue men should simply help out more at home. Women on average do about twice as much housework as men. All of these arguments have their merits and de-merits but none of them really get to the crux of the issue. In order to be paid the same as men, we first have to fight the institutional sexism which exists at almost every level of society.

Many sectors such as automation, information technology and other outgrowths of capitalism are allowing women to compete and win in traditionally male-dominated fields. But observing that some women are quite empowered in capitalism does not imply that the path has been laid and that if we just follow it the goals of feminism will be reached.

Further, capitalism has set up a system of high working hours for low wages for its labourers and has established a pre-set power role between the owner of the factors of production and the individuals who sell their labour. Given the inherently oppressive and exploitative nature that capitalism entails, and the toxicity that is involved with it, the skewed power relation is only amplified when a woman is selling her labour for which she is paid a wage that significantly undermines the value of contribution made by her. The problems associated with capitalism is particularly biased towards women, there’s always some achievements or standards that they are not meeting, or a role model that capitalism strives them to be. This article achieves to streamline a discussion around the so-called role fulfilment mechanisms which we have become so adept at.

The Superwoman Effect

Superwoman – though a term associated with women empowerment and celebrates the achievements of women in corporate and on the domestic front, is often misused by capitalism and society to expect sacrifice from women. Gender, class and literature examines the superwoman phenomenon and the impact it has on the women and the stress level which is induced by capitalism. By definition, a superwoman is someone who, ‘takes on the roles of mother, nurturer and breadwinner out of economic and social necessity’.

The superwoman or supermom is associated with a woman who can juggle traditional role expectations associated with being a female and the role and expectations of career advancement and upward social mobility. In her book ‘The Second Stage’ (1981), Betty Friedan describes the superwoman expectation as the double enslavement of women by capitalism since it requires a sacrifice, either at home or work, to be a superwoman.

Girlboss Culture

Girlboss is similar to Superwoman, it provides an aspirational narrative to the struggles. While it is a good thing to work hard and have dreams and work towards achieving your dreams; the idea of social change projected by capitalism through Girlboss defines the narrow constraints of capital accumulation and its associated preservation of hierarchies and inequities. Girlboss feminism emerges from colonial legacies and structures of power that are predicated on maintaining inequalities based on race, ability and normative gender expression.

Success is the headliner of girlboss feminism. ‘The Girlboss Platform’, started in 2016, represents the cultural shift toward marketing personality as a component of successful capitalist subjectivities. It uses motivational content by merging personal and professional upgrades to attain success, the personal becomes a vital selling point in girlboss culture. A pattern of desirable personality traits emerges through the platform’s user engagement, highlighting the role of collective intelligence in shaping conceptions of the ideal empowered woman.

Through these ideas of superwoman and girlboss, capitalism is selling this narrative claiming that anyone can attain wealth, regardless of gender, race, ability and so on – so long as you work hard, think positively and rise above any obstacles thrown at you. By leveraging mediated spaces to perpetuate such aspirational narratives, girlboss feminism naturalizes and obscures the conditions of severe inequality endemic to capitalism.

In her analysis of beauty and lifestyle bloggers, Brooke Erin Duffy highlights the role of authenticity in capitalism. Duffy notes that authenticity represents the demands for self-promotion created by emotional capitalism, defined by Eva Illouz as ‘the complicated intersections of intimacy and political/economic models of exchange’. Girlboss users respond to emotional capitalism’s norms of engaging what is personal and intimate as modes of profitability. This profitability centres on reinforcing gendered expectations of women’s capacity for expressing vulnerability, pointing to how emotional capitalism operates through structures of gender essentialism. Women are expected to be vulnerable and emotional capitalism engages this norm as an opportunity for extracting value. Through the repetitive selling of their own relatability and authenticity, Girlboss users structure the marketing of personality traits as a key feature of gaining influence.

Lastly, to overcome sexism it is necessary to combat this system as a whole, rather than focusing specific issues. The whole system must be critiqued and examined. The incredible technological and scientific advances of the past forty years could have been channelled toward dramatically reducing poverty, improving health care outcomes and the ecological sustainability of our production processes and ensuring security in the supply and distribution of clean water, nutritious food, and adequate housing. These are things that all people value. These are also things that would greatly empower women who suffer disproportionately from the lack of these things.

08/12/2024 0 comments 26 views

Meet Greeshma Nayak: From being Denied a Hall Ticket, to being a Class 10 Topper

by Guest Author 08/12/2024

written by Guest Author

By Neha Bhupathiraju

Greeshma has topped the Karnataka SSLC Class 10 supplementary exams after being denied a hall ticket and admission earlier this year. Her father is a farmer and being severely hit by the pandemic, her family was unable to pay her Class 9 fees, which subsequently led to a denial of entry to Class 10. “For one full year, my sister (Keerthana) taught me core subjects in front of a board in simulation of classroom experience and asked me to learn languages on my own. I started learning them three months before the exam, but was shattered to know that my name was not registered by the school.”, she said.

Greeshma is from Koratagere, a town in Tumakuru district of Karnataka. She was a student of Alva’s English Medium High School till Class 9, which she also topped, but was later denied entry to Class 10. Her parents alleged that they were not provided any further extension to pay fees, which the school denied. Shattered that her name wasn’t registered for boards, Greeshma attempted suicide. They appealed to Deputy Director for Public Instruction (DDPI), following media reports the issue then escalated to Primary & Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kamar, “I rushed to her home, consoled her and told her to get ready for the supplementary exam (as a fresh candidate) and that I will take the responsibility of ensuring she gets the chance to appear for it. I am happy that she aced the exam. I congratulate her for it.”

Greeshma scored 599/625 i.e 95.84%. She wants to become a doctor and is waiting to get admitted to a good PU college. Dr. Devi Shetty, a cardiologist, offered to sponsor Greeshma’s future studies upon hearing her story. “I would support anyone who wants to become a doctor. I want her to become a cardiologist. She must commit herself to secure a seat in a government medical college.” Dr. Shetty also added that there needs to be data on how much fees are pending before students are barred from exams, which will enable people like him to fund their exams.

Post Greeshma’s incident however, Education minister S Suresh announced in July that no student shall be denied entry from exams owing to late or non-payment of school fees. Block Education Officers (BEOs) will ensure an effective implementation of the same, including issuing hall tickets to students in case they weren’t issued by the school. They will also act as grievance officers.
A UNICEF survey pointed out 247 million children were affected by the pandemic, and the dropout rate increased from 1.8 to 5.3% by 2020. In Delhi alone, 15% of government school students have not been ‘traceable’ since the start of lockdown in March 2020. States like Tamil Nadu have reinstated 60% dropouts back into school post the pandemic. It has been particularly harsh on girls, rolling back years of progress in girl child education and development. Amidst such chaos, Greeshma’s story is breathtaking and inspiring.

08/12/2024 0 comments 28 views

The unfinished skill training of India’s women: Bridging gender-based skill gaps to enhance women’s employment

by Guest Author 08/12/2024

written by Guest Author

Authors: Mitali Nikore, Khyati Bhatnagar, Priyal Mundhra

Research assistance: Ishita Upadhyay, Girish Sharma, Shruti Jha

India’s growing economy needs 103 million skilled workers between 2017-2022. Yet, over 100 million Indian youth (15-29 years) are not in education, employment or training (NEET), of which around 88.5 million are young women. The proportion of working-age women receiving any form of vocational training over the past decade has been increasing from 6.8% in 2011-12 to 6.9% in 2018-19, vs. an increase from 14.6% to 15.7% for men.

Furthermore, there is a concentration of women trainees in non-engineering, labour-intensive sectors and job roles. Under the flagship Prime Minister Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) for short-term skilling, although women comprised 49.9% of enrolled candidates over 2016-2020, they remained concentrated in traditional, “feminised” sectors such as beauty, apparel and healthcare, and almost entirely excluded from high technology or more mechanised sectors. Between 2014-19, women comprised 17% of enrolment at Industrial Training Institutes (ITI). Women formed only 4.3% of enrollments in engineering trades vs 54.7% in non- engineering trades.

Source: NSDC Analysis, June 2020

In this context, prolonged closures of education and skilling facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic are creating new barriers, especially for young women trying to enter the labour force. Between September 2020 to May 2021, Nikore Associates undertook consultations with over 60 stakeholders belonging to community-based organisations (CBOs), academic institutions, government agencies, women-led self-help groups (SHGs), and corporates to understand these barriers.

1. Gender-based digital divide: During COVID-19, several CBOs switched to online and Whatsapp-based skill training modules. However, in 2020, 25% of India’s adult female population owned a smartphone vs. 41% of men. Consultations showed that owing to lower ownership of smartphones, unfamiliarity with phone features, high data costs, and lower priority being accorded to women’s skill training, several women and adolescent girls dropped out of training. In one example of this, a Mumbai based NGO shared that large family sizes necessitated phone-sharing. Coupled with financial constraints which limited the purchase of internet packages, women’s enrolment in their online skill training courses had fallen.

2. Unpaid work: Indian women were already spending an average of 5 hours per day on unpaid care work, vs. 30 minutes spent by men pre-COVID-19. Nearly 45% of women’s unpaid work is centered around childcare, and the unavailability of creche facilities at skill centers deters women with caregiving responsibilities from joining. Consultations across social groups revealed that the presence of male relatives and children at home due to closure of workplaces and schools led to an increase in care work. For instance, an SHG mobiliser in Telangana shared that the women in her community were unable to attend trainings and SHG meetings owing to domestic work.

3. Commuting options and mobility restrictions: Even before COVID-19, 28.3% of women enrolled in ITIs cited difficulty in commuting as their reason for withdrawing from skill training. Lockdown measures disrupted public transport services, increased the risk of gendered violence in empty public spaces, and heightened mobility restrictions for women. For instance, a Manipur-based CBO shared that even after lockdowns eased and training centers re-opened, women were unable to re-join trainings as they did not have a means to commute.

4. Social norms. In a pre-COVID-19 survey, 58% of female trainees cited marriage, 21% cited family issues, and another 7.5% cited family perception of ITIs being more suited for males as major reasons dropping out of skill training programs. Consultations show that with COVID-19, families have become even more reluctant to allow young women to step out for training. For instance, a Delhi-based CBO conducting training for women to take up cab-driving saw much higher resistance from families post COVID-19.

5. Wage gaps and low likelihood of employment post training: Even after training, women’s likelihood of obtaining a job was lower than men. About 46.9% of women who received formal vocational training did not enter the labour force, vs. 12.7% of men (NSSO 2019). An analysis of data from 64 ITIs shows that only 25.6% of female trainees received job offers in 2018-19. In a survey of employers, 50% of MSMEs and 32% of large companies expressed a reluctance to employ women owing to the need to ensuring their security, risks with involving them in heavy manual labour, and their interest in working in closer proximity to their homes. Women also suffer gendered wage gaps. Between 1993-2018, the average wages for female casual workers in urban settings stood at ~63% of the male wage. Consultations showed that during COVID-19, these gender-biases could worsen, especially across small businesses owing to repeated macroeconomic shocks and working capital constraints.

The Government of India (GOI) has recognized women as a priority group under the Skill India Mission. Further, the GOI’s recent announcement to conduct a tracer study to gauge the impact of PMKVY on female labour force participation is a much-needed intervention to understand the correlation between skill development and employability for women.

As the country moves on to a medium-term path of economic recovery post-COVID19, several additional measures can be considered by the GOI to encourage government and private training providers to undertake gender-inclusive skilling interventions.

The GOI could formulate an incentives-based approach with gender targets for all courses under its National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF). Reward mechanisms can be created such that training partners become eligible for additional financial support if new modules are devised for women’s training, or if there is an increase in enrolment and placement of female candidates, especially in non-traditional trades.

A composite national and state level ranking of skilling institutes should be devised to assess gender mainstreaming efforts, including increasing awareness, recruiting female faculty and offering counselling services for female candidates and potential employers.

There is also an urgent need to create gender sensitive infrastructure at skill training institutions, with procurement standards of private training partners under government schemes mandating separate washrooms, strict security, balanced gender ratio of trainers and the provision of safe transport. Gender sensitive infrastructure should be standardized across all government and private skilling institutes.

A host of long-term structural barriers, such as occupational segregation, the income effect of rising household-incomes, and increased mechanization, which when combined with increased unpaid work, growing gender disparities in education, and heightened mobility restrictions due to the pandemic, have intensified the challenges of bringing women back to work. Thus, bridging the gender gaps in skill training and making women ready for a digitized, technology-driven post-COVID-19 workplace, should be a priority for GOI.

08/12/2024 0 comments 25 views

लड़कियों की शिक्षा पर कोरोना का प्रभाव

by Rajesh Singh 08/12/2024

written by Rajesh Singh

By Rajesh Singh

कोरोना महामारी के चलते जब सारे शैक्षणिक संस्थान बन्द है तब शिक्षा का जो स्वरूप बदला है, वह ना तो हमारे देश के छात्रों और ना ही छात्राओं के लिए अच्छा है, क्योंकि इसमें ना तो परस्पर क्रिया है और ना ही सहभागिता। यूनेस्को (संयुक्त राष्ट्र शैक्षणिक, वैज्ञानिक एवं सांस्कृतिक संगठन) के अनुसार भारत में लॉकडाउन के कारण लगभग 32 करोड़ छात्र छात्राओं की पढ़ाई रुकी है, जिसमे लगभग 15.81 करोड़ केवल लड़कियां हैं।

कोरोना महामारी से शिक्षण संस्थान मुख्य रूप से स्कूलों के बंद होने से लड़कियों (खासकर ग्रामीण क्षेत्र में रहने वाली) को सबसे ज्यादा नुकसान हुआ है। अब जब स्कूल जाना नहीं तब उन पर घर के कार्यों का बोझ बढ़ा है I हालांकि पहले भी घर के कार्यों में वो अपना योगदान देती थी, परंतु पहले ये होता था कि सुबह स्कूल जाना है, वहां 6 घंटे रहना है, स्कूल से आकर स्कूल का कार्य करना है, इसमें उनका काफी वक्त लग जाता था जिसके चलते उन्हें घर के सारे कार्य नहीं करने पड़ते थे I परंतु अब सुबह से लेकर शाम तक घर का सारा कार्य उन्हें करना पड़ता है I घर में बड़े बुजुर्ग भी ये कहते हैं कि जब स्कूल नहीं जाना तो कम से कम घर के कार्य करने ही सीख जाओ। इसके साथ ही प्राथमिक स्कूल की बच्चियां जिन्होंने अभी स्कूल जाना शुरू किया था, अभी सीखना शुरू किया था,की तरफ किसी का कोई ध्यान नहीं जा रहा, उनका भविष्य अंधकार में धकेला जा रहा है I आमतौर पर जब कोई इंसान कुछ सीखना शुरू करता है तो उसे अभ्यास की ज़रूरत होती है, यदि कोई चीज़ सीखी हो और उसका अभ्यास ना किया जाए तो बहुत जल्दी वो चीज़ भूल भी जाते हैं और बच्चों जिन्होंने अभी अभी सीखना शुरू किया है उनके लिए सीखी हुई चीजों का अभ्यास करना ज्यादा महत्वपूर्ण हैI

परंतु अब जब पिछले 15 महीनों से स्कूल बंद है तब कैसे छोटे बच्चे घर में अभ्यास करें? हो सकता है कि कुछ परिवार अपने बच्चों को प्रतिदिन कुछ पढ़ा कर अभ्यास करवा पाएं पंरतु लगभग 70 फीसदी परिवार ऐसे है जो दिहाड़ी मजदूरी करके अपना और परिवार का पेट पालते हैं, उनके पास इतना वक्त नहीं होता कि वो अपने बच्चों को पढ़ा पाए I इनमे से भी अधिकतर माता पिता खुद अनपढ़ है तो वो कैसे अपने बच्चों को कुछ सीखा पाएंगे और अगर बच्चा लड़की है तो उसपर बिल्कुल ध्यान नहीं दिया जाता I यदि ट्यूशन भी लगाना हो तो आम जन लड़कियों की बजाए लड़कों को ज्यादा तरजीह देते हैं। इसके साथ ही जो लड़कियां कक्षा 9 या 10 में पढ़ती थी उनकी शादियां हो रही है जिससे उन्हें शारीरिक और मानसिक रूप से बड़े बदलाव के दौर में जीना पड़ रहा है।

यूनेस्को की शिक्षा विभाग की सहायक महानिदेशक “स्टेफेनिया गियनिनी” ने पिछले वर्ष कहा था कि इस महामारी के कारण शैक्षणिक संस्थान बंद होना लड़कियों के लिए बीच मे ही पढ़ाई छोड़ने की चेतवानी है। इससे शिक्षा में लैंगिक अंतर जहां और बढ़ेगा वहीं विवाह की कानूनी उम्र से पहले ही लड़कियों की शादी की संभावनाओं से भी इंकार नहीं किया जा सकता है।

सरकार ने हालांकि शिक्षा बिल्कुल ना रुके इसके लिए ऑनलाइन शिक्षा शुरू की, परंतु भारत में पर्याप्त संख्या में ना तो ऑनलाइन शिक्षा के लिए यंत्र हैं और ना ही आम जन के पास इन्हें चलाने की कला। लोकनीति सीएसडीएस ने अपनी 2019 की रिपोर्ट में बताया कि ग्रामीण क्षेत्रो मे केवल 6 फीसदी परिवारों में और शहरी क्षेत्रों में 25 फीसदी परिवारों के पास कंप्यूटर है। और केवल एक तिहाई घरों में ही स्मार्ट फोन है, इसमें भी अधिकतर घरों में एक ही स्मार्टफोन है, जिसे पूरा परिवार प्रयोग करता है, और ये फोन घर के मुख्य व्यक्ति के पास रहता है, वो जब घर होता है तभी बच्चे उसे प्रयोग कर सकते हैं, और बच्चों में भी लड़कियों की बारी लड़कों के बाद में आती है।

राष्ट्रीय प्रतिदर्श सर्वेक्षण कार्यालय ने अपनी 2017-2018 की रिपोर्ट में कहा था कि भारत में केवल 24 फीसदी परिवारों के पास ही इंटरनेट की सुविधा है। अर्थात् 70 फीसदी परिवारों के पास ना तो कंप्यूटर है ना ही स्मार्टफोन और ना ही इंटरनेट और इसके साथ साथ घरों में ना तो पर्याप्त जगह है जहां पर बैठ कर शांति से बच्चे पढ़ सके और ना ही ऐसा माहौल जिसमे कुछ सीखा जा सके तो इस दौर में ऑनलाइन शिक्षा कैसे सम्भव है? सबसे महत्वपूर्ण तथ्य ये भी है कि ग्रामीण परिवेश में रहने वाले अधिकतर लोगों को सोशल मीडिया चलाना ही नहीं आता I दूसरा जो काम स्कूल द्वारा भेजा जाता है उसे बच्चे समझ ही नहीं पाते कि इसे करना कैसे है, उन्हें बताने वाला कोई नहीं है, और फोन जब शाम को घर आता है तब उसकी बैट्री लगभग खत्म होने को होती है और ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों में बिजली भी 24 घंटे उपलब्ध नहीं होती I इस प्रकार ऐसे अनेकों कारण है जिनकी वजह से ग्रामीण बच्चों और खासकर लड़कियों की पढ़ाई छूट रही है। अब उन्हें वापिस मुख्यधारा में लाना अपने आप में एक चुनौती है।

“दिल्ली आईआईटी की प्रोफेसर डॉ. रीतिका खेड़ा ने कहा है कि ऑनलाइन शिक्षा गरीबों के बच्चों के साथ भद्दा मज़ाक है”।

यूनिसेफ ने प्राथमिक शिक्षा को सबसे ज्यादा महत्वपूर्ण व प्रभावशाली बताया है और कहा है कि जब भी लॉकडाउन जैसा कदम उठाना हो तब प्राथमिक स्कूलों को सबसे बाद में बंद करना चाहिए और जब सब कुछ खुलने लगे तो प्राथमिक स्कूलों को ही सबसे पहले खोलना चाहिए। क्यूंकि हम देखते है की घर के बड़े महिला पुरुष अपने अपने कार्यों को करने के लिए बाहर आते जाते रहते हैं इसलिए यदि वायरस आने का उन्हें कोई खतरा नहीं है तो बच्चों को खतरा कैसे हो सकता है। दूसरी सबसे खास बात ये है कि छोटे बच्चों में संक्रमण का खतरा कम है और इसके साथ साथ यदि प्राथमिक स्कूलों को लंबे समय तक बन्द रखा जाता है तो छोटे बच्चे कुछ भी संख्या या शब्दों को सीख नहीं पाएंगे, जिससे आने वाले समय में उन्हें भारी समस्याओं को सामना करना पड़ेगा। परंतु भारत में अब जब सब खुल चुका है तब कक्षा 9 से 12 तक के स्कूल सबसे पहले खुलने शुरू हुए हैं, जबकि होना इसका उल्टा चाहिए था क्यूंकि इन बड़े बच्चों को कम से कम लिखना पढ़ना तो आता ही है इसलिए इनका जितना नुकसान होना था वो हो चुका परंतु छोटे बच्चों का नुकसान तो प्रतिदिन हो रहा है।

और हम देखें कि यदि छोटी बच्चियों को पढ़ने का अवसर नहीं मिला तो निश्चित रूप से उनकी शादी भी कानूनी उम्र से पहले ही होएगी, उसके बाद उन्हें शारीरिक और मानसिक तनाव का सामना भी करना पड़ सकता है और अनपढ़ता के दौर में शादियों में एक लड़की देके दूसरी लड़की लेने का प्रचलन भी बढ़ने की सम्भावना है। इसलिए सरकार को लड़कियों व उनके भविष्य और एक बेहतर भारत के निर्माण को ध्यान में रखते हुए सारे शिक्षण संस्थान खोल देने चाहिए और ऑफलाइन शिक्षा पुन: शुरू करनी चाहिए क्योंकि कोई भी देश लड़कियों को मुख्यधारा में शामिल किए बिना ना तो अपना विकास कर सकता है और ना ही वहां सभ्य समाज का निर्माण हो सकता है।

08/12/2024 0 comments 24 views

Achievements of Women In Olympics, 2020

by Guest Author 08/12/2024

written by Guest Author

Author: Pooja Bhattacharjee

The recently concluded Tokyo Olympics gave people from all over the world a reason to celebrate. Considering the highly anxious environment at the Olympic village as well as the galloping threat of COVID – 19, the women athletes gave a stunning performance. The International Olympic Committee branded the 2020 edition as ‘the first ever gender-balanced Olympic Games in history’ with 49% of the 11,656 athletes being female. This is an amazing feat, considering that women were barred from participating in the Olympics when it first began. It shows not only the hard work that women athletes put in, but also the dedication and sacrifice of all the women who paved the way for them.

Indian athletes proved their mettle by giving exemplary performances at the games and showed that there is nothing that can affect their hard work and resilience. Out of the 127 athletes sent to the Tokyo Olympics by India, 56 athletes were women. India’s total medal tally at the Olympics stood at 7, which made history as being the highest ever India won in a single edition. Out of 7 medals, 3 were won by women. Mirabai Chanu won the Silver Medal in Weight Lifting (Women’s 49kg) and opened the books for Indian athletes for this edition. PV Sindhu bagged a Bronze Medal in Women’s Single Badminton and Lovlina Borgohain won India a Bronze Medal in Women’s Welterweight Boxing.

Indian Women’s Hockey team may not have won a medal at the Olympics but they scripted history at the games by giving their best-ever Olympic performance in Tokyo. Aditi Ashok gave an unbelievably amazing performance and finished 4th in the Women’s Golf final at Tokyo 2020. Ms. CA Bhavani Devi made history by being the first fencer to represent India at the Olympics. This number can be increased if more women, especially women from small towns and villages have access to the sport facilities.

Internationally too, women dominated the games. The U.S. women finished the Games with 66 medals, followed by China. The U.S women’s basketball team claimed its seventh consecutive gold, while the water polo team won its third gold in a row and the volleyball team won its first gold. Allyson Felix in her fifth Olympics claimed bronze in the 400 meters and gold in the 4×400 relay, giving her the 10th and 11th Olympic medals of her career. Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz became the first Philippine athlete to win an Olympic gold medal. Japan’s women’s basketball team won its first silver medal. Gymnasts from the Russian Olympic Committee won gold in the team event for the first time since 1992.

It is true that not all women athletes who participated in the Tokyo Olympics left with a medal. But all of them left a legacy of hardwork and strength, of sacrifice and overcoming the struggles and breaking the patriarchy which existed in this field to a great extent along with inspiring a generation of young girls to take interest in sports.

08/12/2024 0 comments 27 views

Chhattisgarh marching ahead in promoting Girl’s Education with campaign “Har Kadam Beti Ke Sang”

by Shivangi Sharma 08/12/2024

written by Shivangi Sharma

Shivangi Sharma

COVID-19 pandemic with all its challenges has hit hard on children’s education, especially girls. With persisting gender inequality and increasing poverty, upto 10 million girls are at risk of dropping out of school because of the pandemic. RTE Forum in their policy brief earlier this year notes that with 1.6 million girls aged 11 to 14 years currently out of school, the pandemic could disproportionally impact girls further by putting them at risk of early marriage, early pregnancy, poverty, trafficking and violence. In light of these concerns, Room to Read and International NGO in collaboration with Chhattisgarh government is running a campaign called “Har Kadam Beti ke Sang, Leadership ki Tarang 2021” focused to bring out powerful leadership stories of girls and their families and caregivers to demonstrate resilience and leadership, despite all the challenges that have come and may come.

Room to Read is an International NGO that believes that world change starts with educated children and based on that belief, they collaborate with communities, organisations and governments to develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children and support girls to complete secondary school with relevant life skills to succeed in schools and beyond. In this national level campaign to improve Girl’s Education, Room to Read has designed an array of life skills materials that has been launched by School Education Minister of Chhattisgarh Dr. Premsai Tekram as a part of the Covid-19 outreach program and commitment towards girls’ education.

“I urge girls to take a vow to study with all their heart, to never let anything stop them, and to become leaders in their communities. Let us come together to help our girls. Har Kadam Beti Ke Sang Leadership Ki Tarang”, said school education minister Dr Premsai Tekam, reported by Times of India.

The campaign has brought to light powerful leadership stories of girls and their families who overcame all the hardships brought by Covid. As reported by Times of India, Geeta, a bright and diligent student of 10th standard, who lost her father to the coronavirus. She always aspired to be a doctor and serve the people in the best of her capacities for which she has always been participative in health related initiatives in her village. The loss that Geeta and her family bore was irreplaceable. Yet, Geeta had to toughen her shoulders to bear the responsibility of her mother and little ones in her family. With time, Geeta and her mother joined the Anganwadi workers to spread awareness about the virus. Geeta and her mother strived hard so that nobody had to bear the loss due to Covid-19. Geeta also started stitching masks and distributing them among children in her village. Besides, she now lives to study and work hard, for herself and for her father, who till his last breath cared about every student’s education as much as he cared about his own daughter’s.

Another such inspiring story is of Chitralekha hailing from a small village in Chhattisgarh. The very day that Chitralekha turned 16, her life saw a downfall from the very moment the mother uttered the words, “marriage”. A myriad of obnoxious feelings took over, her dreams, her aspirations; all of them came crumbling down to nothing. Chitralekha stood tall and with the support of her brother and the R2R India team ensured that the marriage was called off and she continued to pursue her education. This campaign intends to reach out to all vulnerable girls like Chitralekha.

The state-wide campaign is targeted at 15,881 girls residing in 179 government girls’ residential institutions including Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya, Ashram Shalas and Porta Cabins in all the 28 districts under Project Vijayi. Project Vijayi was started by Room to Read in year 2018 with partnership of Education Department and Tribal Welfare Department of State of Chhattisgarh which is a life skill program. In this Project, one Warden and one Teacher from residential institutions got trained and they deliver quality Life Skill Sessions with girls from grade six to eight. In addition, 2,504 girls from 13 non-residential government schools in two districts Raipur and Dhamtari will get benefitted from various online reading materials, circulars, take care cards and e-magazines. The campaign intends to negate the impact of Covid-19 pandemic that has severely impacted the education system across India especially the lives of young adolescent girls beyond their education too. It intends to empower the girls with education and life skills to help them lead a better life without the fear of being married off or making them vulnerable to poverty.

08/12/2024 0 comments 41 views

Tribulation Of Innocent Hands

by Guest Author 08/12/2024

written by Guest Author

By Advocate Meenu Padha; Co- Authors – Tavleen Kaur & Vinayak Sonkar

India needs an instant nationwide awareness and campaigns against the child labour to protect and safeguard children from the economic and social consequences which has been faced due to Covid-19 crisis and lockdowns. Although some of us are practicing social distancing and actively working from home in the hope of a much better tomorrow, there are still a large number of children who may be victims of seemingly positive measures. One effect is the increase in the number of child labour. For many children, the Covid-19 crisis means little or no education due to poverty or less means of technology which will ultimately lead them to lag behind their peers. This will prompt a large number of children to stop learning even after we return to “normalcy” post COVID. Many children who are not in school will embroil themselves in child labour. In the two waves of Covid-19 in India, lakhs of men and women, many of whom did not have stable jobs and depended on daily wages, became unemployed or faced low income which had a spiralling effect on their children. Due to lockdown, the schools are unable to run physically and only a few people can access or receive online education. In the first wave of Covid19 in 2020, more than three-fourth of children did not have access to online learning facility and more than half of the children did not have access to any learning materials. The increasing anxiety of parents, shortage of learning material, low income and non-access to online education, all together has led to an increase in child labour.

The epidemic is clearly appearing to be a child rights crisis, which is increasing the risk of child labour, because more families are falling into extreme poverty. As stated by the United Nations Organisation, 160 million of child labour cases have increased to 8.4 million over the consecutive four years and Covid-19 has been a major contributor to this. Children from poor and disadvantaged families in India are now at a greater risk such as dropping out of school and being forced to work. Lakhs of families in emerging and developing countries are employed as daily workers in the informal sector (rickshaw drivers, construction workers, street vendors, workers in small factories, etc.). In particular, they have lost revenue due to the overwhelming effects of the global lockdown and the pandemic. The sharp decline in income means that families cannot afford basic necessities or money for children’s health care or education. In the formal sector as well, factory closures in countless countries have led to massive layoffs and loss of income, with major consequences being faced by lakhs of workers and their families. As adults are at a higher risk of contracting the coronavirus than children, the ultimate pressure is increasing upon children specially in poor families, to take the whole responsibility of family and bridge the gap of basic necessity. Since the production base is still looking for the cheapest labour, children are considered to be a very cheap option for such labours and work to meet their demands. Even before the epidemic, the figures for child labour in India were dismal. According to the Census 2011 statistics, the overall number of child labourers in India between the ages of 5 and 14 is 4.35 million (major workers) and 5.76 million (marginal workers), for a total of 10.11 million. Furthermore, there are 22.87 million teenage labourers in India, bringing the total (in the age bracket of 5-18 years) to about 33 million.

In addition to child labour, there are myriad facets of this problem which both result from child labour and also contribute to it. As per the National Crime Records Bureau, in India, one child disappears every eight minutes. India also has the highest child trafficking cases. Children are sometimes removed from their homes to be purchased and sold in the market. In other situations, youngsters are duped into falling into the hands of traffickers by being offered a job, only to be enslaved upon arrival. There are many children trafficked for a variety of causes, including work, begging, and sexual exploitation. Because of the nature of this crime, it is both difficult to trace these children and also prevent their exploitation effectively due to weak law enforcement. While we have an estimate of the issue, understanding its exact scope, and getting ascertainable numbers is very hard. Though the majority of child trafficking happens within the nation, a considerable number of children are trafficked from Nepal and Bangladesh.

Child trafficking is caused by a variety of factors, the most common of which are poverty, ineffective law enforcement, and a lack of high-quality public education. The traffickers that take advantage of children can be from another area in India, or could even know the child personally. Children who return home after being trafficked are typically shunned by their communities rather than welcomed. Poverty, a lack of education, and the need to financially support their family are some of the core causes of child trafficking in India. India’s unemployment rate is quite high, with the United Nations Development Programme estimating it to be 3.5 percent. Furthermore, there aren’t a lot of income opportunities. When youngsters are given the opportunity to labour, they are more likely to be exploited. Children in poverty are frequently compelled to trade sex in exchange for a place to live or food to eat. Some parents have even been compelled to sell their children to traffickers in order to get out of poverty or pay off debts. Gangs frequently traffic children and compel them to beg on the streets. Contemporary cases of begging can be seen in most of the metropolises. Not only are these children being forced to beg for money, but a significant number of those on the streets have had gang leaders forcefully remove their limbs or even pour acid into their eyes to blind them. Those children who are injured tend to make more money by invoking the empathy of the people, which is why they are often abused in this way. Organ trafficking is also widespread, with traffickers tricking or forcing minors to give up their organs.

As per UNICEF, over 300,000 children under the age of 18 are presently being exploited in more than 30 violent situations throughout the world. While the bulk of child soldiers are aged 15 to 18, some are as young as 7 or 8 years old. A huge number of youngsters are kidnapped and forced to serve as soldiers. Others work as porters, chefs, guards, servants, messengers, and spies. Many of these young soldiers have been sexually assaulted, which frequently results in unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted illnesses. Some youngsters have been coerced into carrying out crimes against their families and communities. A lot of children are also made to steal, snatch, kill with a mindset that it is an essential for their living .

Currently, 152 million youngsters, 64 million girls and 88 million boys, labour across the world. This represents nearly one-tenth of all children worldwide. There are about 10 million youngsters in India who are actively engaged in or pursuing employment. Despite considerable attempts done in recent years by the UN, ILO, and individual nations like India, this remains the case. Failure to minimize the number of minors exploited in job circumstances is due to the socio-cultural fabric that allows it to happen and condones the offence, as well as the enormous demand for inexpensive child labour in agricultural, mining, carpet-weaving, garment, brick kiln, and other sectors, as well as the pervasive poverty that continues to be both a cause and a function of child labour.

Selling of minor girls for prostitution is a big subject of concern. These minor girls are syndicated to enormous abuses one cannot even imagine. They are molested, harassed, raped, exploited, stalked, beaten and many more injuries are caused to those small teeny bodies which are sabotaged with cigars, burns, wounds and blood through their legs. While they feel the pain in the earlier years, in later years, girls come to accept it as their fate.

They perceive it as a way of living and consider sexual abuse as a necessary exchange for drugs, food, shelter, protection and other basics of life. Children who are exploited for commercial sex are subjected to child pornography and child prostitution transactions. Commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) of women and children earns around $400 million USD each year in Mumbai alone. According to the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD), there are around three million prostitutes in the nation, with an estimated 40% of them being youngsters, since there is an increasing desire for extremely young girls to be initiated into prostitution according to customer preferences. Sexual exploitation has many serious implications for these youngsters.

Now the main question which comes up every now and then is – Will the government and general public take strong steps to prevent the abuse of the children and stop child labour and child trafficking?

On a national level, human trafficking is expressly prohibited in Article 23 of the Indian Constitution. To combat the issue of child trafficking, the Indian government has also passed further legislation and modified the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act of 1986 (ITPA) amends the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls Act of 1956. (SITA). Human trafficking for prostitution was deemed illegal by SITA, and legal action was detailed for anybody participating in human trafficking in any capacity. ITPA made laws friendlier towards the victim. ITPA also created a system to rehabilitate victims of trafficking and prevent them from bring trafficked again. In 2013, IPC was amended to create new provisions to address Trafficking in India that is more in accordance with the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Particularly Women and Children. State governments have also been observed taking steps to combat child trafficking by attempting to create systems and regulations at the state level. Non-governmental organisations that strive to solve various parts of this issue fill up any gaps in the execution of plans and regulations.

Although India is regarded as a centre for human trafficking, the Indian government places little emphasis on the issue. Hence the way in which the current legal system operates to address child labour in India can be considered as coming into direct conflict with the trend of independent child migration that is seen across the country. Therefore, legal measures are not enough. Every person needs to understand the gravity of this issue, make themselves aware, and keep their eyes and minds open, to help the government where ever possible in tracking the cases of child labour and preventing it.

08/12/2024 0 comments 25 views

The Widening Gender Pay Gap is a Looming National Crisis

by Mani Chander 08/12/2024

written by Mani Chander

Mani Chander

Of 153 countries, India is placed at an abysmal 149^th position in economic participation and opportunity according to the Gender Gap Index Report of 2020. Over the last few months, this gender gap has further exacerbated as many women continue to take substantial pay cuts and have lost jobs owing to the pandemic. An Oxfam India report estimates the economic loss from women losing their jobs during the pandemic at about $216 billion – this would mean knocking off a striking 8% from the country’s gross domestic product. It is for this reason that the gender pay gap should no longer be viewed as merely a social problem. A national crisis is before us and we must deal with it head-on.

So what’s causing this “She-cession”? Since the onset of the pandemic, reports across the world suggested that women are more likely than others to bear the economic burden. But this has turned out to be particularly true for Indian women. Not only do fewer women work in India when compared to other countries, but they also get paid way less than working women in other countries. Besides, Indian women are more vulnerable due to our inherently patriarchal society as marriage and maternity typically take center stage in a woman’s lives. According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development statistics, on average, women in India spend almost 352 minutes per day on unpaid work such as household chores, childcare and looking after elderly parents, as opposed to just 52 minutes by their male counterparts.

Prior to the lockdown women in India contributed 18% to the country’s economic output, about half of the global average. Now, with the coronavirus outbreak this percentage is set back even further due to the unreasonable expectation that women, by default, are exclusively responsible for all household duties. In essence, working women are now juggling multiple roles. Their domestic help is no longer available, children are off schools and older parents who are vulnerable to the virus require special care. For these reasons, women are dealing with additional stress leading to reduced productivity at work, and as a result, they are being increasingly perceived by employers as easy targets for pay cuts and layoffs.

Unlike other countries, where women who are laid off are compensated with social security benefits, Indian women are left bereft of such benefits in case of layoffs. Self-employed women and those who are employed on a temporary or contractual basis are particularly disadvantaged as they have little to no security or legal protections to fall back on. While many other countries have offered comprehensive unemployment insurance to working women facing hardships, women in India are further handicapped by the sheer lack of it.

The most significant factor that puts India at a back-footing when compared to other countries, however, is that a majority (ranging from 88 to 95 percent) of women continue to work in the unorganised sector, many of whom are migrant workers who were forced out of jobs due to the pandemic. Their employment is concentrated in labour intensive, low-growth and low-productivity sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing and construction. Over a period of time, women in these sectors are likely to lose more jobs with the surge in mechanisation and automation. Interestingly, McKinsey Global Institute in a 2019 Report estimated that up to 12 million Indian women could lose their jobs by 2030 owing to automation in these sectors. Without question, such a catastrophe would halt or even reverse any progress made towards enhancing women’s participation in the workforce.

The female wage in India is 60-65% of the male wage since the last three decades. Before the pandemic unleashed, the World Economic Forum in its Global Gender Gap Report of 2020 painted a grim picture. It indicated that it would take a century to reach pay parity. If we continue to ignore the economic inequalities caused by the pandemic, any prospects of closing the gap even in the next 100 years will be further hampered.

It is evident that the effects of the pandemic are gender conscious, so it stands to reason that our efforts to overcome them involve a gendered response. What India needs is an effective re-evaluation of its policies and targeted interventions by the civil society, government and private sector. Instead of reinforcing mechanisms and cultural norms that push women out of jobs, it is time we begin investing in women as the pillars of nation building – by rewarding them with equal pay for equal work, if not more.

Let’s bridge the gap.

* Views are personal. This piece is the first in the series “Bridge the Gap” presented by The Womb. The author of the series is a Delhi based practicing lawyer who holds a special interest in gender justice. She is admitted to the New York State Bar and holds a Master’s degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, United States.

08/12/2024 0 comments 26 views

Medi-Robo – A Patna girl’s innovation to help doctors fight Covid-19

by Srinivas Rayappa 08/12/2024

written by Srinivas Rayappa

Akanksha Kumari, a 22 year old girl from Patna has built a robot which shall act as a bridge between doctors and patients suffering from infectious diseases. This device helps maintain the necessary physical distance, which has been necessitated by the rampant spread of the Covid virus. Doctors and paramedic staff can administer care to the patients without the fear of contracting the disease themselves.

An undergraduate student of Electronics Engineering from BIT Durg(Chhattisgarh), Akanksha designed the software to control the robot while her father ably supported her with the hardware. Deeply moved by number of deaths and the innumberable problems faced by doctors in attending to the patients, Akanksha began to develop this unique product. The total investment for developing this robot was an estimated Rs. 1 Lakh.

Akanksha has demonstrated the robot before the Union IT and Law Minister Dr. Ravi Shankar Prasad and has persuaded both the state and central governments to allow the use of the product by Healthcare professionals and workers. Since the robot enables doctors to monitor the patient vitals in real-time and from a safe distance, she firmly believes that the stigma attached to the fear of contagion could be eliminated.

Thus far, Medi_robo has been successfully tested at three private hospitals in Patna and the results have been largely satisfactory. The robot also has been equipped to facilitate transportation of medicines, food, water, oxygen, and other medical equipment. The robot comes equipped with a 360-degree high-resolution night vision surveillance camera.

While the whole country is being engulfed by this pandemic, efforts of young, dynamic and innovative engineering students like Akanksha are indeed laudable.

08/12/2024 0 comments 34 views

Load More Posts

pandemic

Women Rights To Contraception In India And Preventing Unwanted Pregnancy In India

Capitalism & Its Effect On Women

Meet Greeshma Nayak: From being Denied a Hall Ticket, to being a Class 10 Topper

The unfinished skill training of India’s women: Bridging gender-based skill gaps to enhance women’s employment

लड़कियों की शिक्षा पर कोरोना का प्रभाव

Achievements of Women In Olympics, 2020

Chhattisgarh marching ahead in promoting Girl’s Education with campaign “Har Kadam Beti Ke Sang”

Tribulation Of Innocent Hands

The Widening Gender Pay Gap is a Looming National Crisis

Editor's Pick

Featured

Popular Categories

Are you sure want to unlock this post?

Are you sure want to cancel subscription?