While these problems apply to all women across the country, those in India’s middle class face an altogether unique challenge because middle-class families have mastered the art of simulating an environment of empowerment in their homes…reports Asian Lite News
Savitribai Phule, Mahasweta Devi, Amrita Pritam, Medha Patkar, Kamla Bhasin, and countless others have, since the 19th century, fought for and won equal rights for the Indian women in a variety of areas — universal suffrage, inheritance and property rights, equal remuneration, prevention of sexual harassment at the workplace, and others.
Pioneering feminists believed that due to these hard-won rights, their daughters and granddaughters would have the opportunity to have rewarding careers, participate in the social and political growth of the country, gain economic independence, and become equal partners in their marriages.
On paper, it would appear that the lot of Indian women in the twenty-first century has vastly improved but, in reality, the demands of capitalism and the persistence of patriarchal attitudes have meant that they continue to lead lives that are hard and unequal, especially when compared to their male counterparts.
The Indian women are among the most overworked in the world — they spend on average 299 minutes on housework and 134 minutes on care-giving per day, shouldering 82 per cent of domestic duties. They are burdened with work from such a young age that many are forced to drop out of schools, leave the labour force, and give up dreams of financial independence.
For those who have the privilege of choosing to have a career, the only way they can make this viable is by doing a “double shift”: women are expected to do most of the housework, childcare, and care-giving, whether they have jobs or not.
While these problems apply to all women across the country, those in India’s middle class face an altogether unique challenge because middle-class families have mastered the art of simulating an environment of empowerment in their homes.
“Lies Our Mothers Told Us” (Aleph) dares to ask and evaluate if, in our patriarchal society, the assertion that “women can have it all” comes at too high a price. Taking a unique look into the state of women in India’s middle class in the 21st century, the book uses the available data and in-depth interviews to reveal the real lives of Indian women across the country.
Authored by a brilliant award-winning journalist with over 20 years of experience in the field, Nilanjana Bhowmick’s book is an epiphanic read for every aspiring Indian woman.
Bhowmick has won three international awards for her reports on gender and development. She began her career as a producer for the BBC Asian Network in Birmingham and The World Today, the flagship current affairs programme of the BBC World Service Radio based in London.
She was the correspondent for TIME magazine’s South Asia bureau in New Delhi. She has written for the Washington Post, Al Jazeera, and National Geographic Magazine. Her non-fiction work, poetry, and short stories have appeared in several international anthologies.
I think what drew me to my collaboration with Nykd was the fact that discussing lingerie is such a taboo subject…Bhumi speaks N. LOTHUNGBENI HUMTSOE
Neither sufficiently addressed nor boldly discussed, conversations on lingerie have for long been restricted to private settings. They only surface briefly when you want to narrate an uncomfortable encounter with a store assistant, or on the rare occasion you find something so comfortable you absolutely must share with your besties! But such is the conundrum of this category, that there just isn’t enough discussion about it despite being an everyday basic!
Bhumi Pednekar is well-known for using her voice and influence for relevant and need-of-the-hour conversations; she now extends her commitment to yet another cause close to her heart: women’s everyday comfort and lingerie!
In collaboration with Nykd by Nykaa, the intimate wear brand from the House of Nykaa Fashion, Bhumi will be the bold face of the brand through a disruptive campaign titled ‘Bra Aisa, Braless Jaisa’.
Speaking to us exclusively on the collaboration, Bhumi reveals she hopes that the latest campaign will strip off the discomfort and awkwardness associated with discussing basic, real issues women face every day, particularly when it comes to wardrobe essentials like lingerie. Read Excerpts: Q: What is it that compelled you to collaborate with a lingerie brand Nykd?
A: I think what drew me to my collaboration with Nykd was the fact that discussing lingerie is such a taboo subject. Women have suffered for years because they simply do not have enough knowledge about what type of bra they should wear. I believe that comfort is extremely important when it comes to wearing lingerie. Nykd kind of resonated with all of my needs and desires of a perfect bra. That’s why working with Nykd was so exciting for me because the brand, in general, is empowering. It provides women with the comfort of talking about the lingerie they want and desire. It’s all about educating women on the fact that lingerie is supposed to make them feel good, which is why I think my collaboration with Nykd is special.
Q: What do you find so appealing about the narrative of the campaign?
A: The campaign’s narrative is essentially about owning who you are, being yourself, and being at ease in your own skin. Lingerie that feels like second skin, lingerie that gives you confidence, lingerie that literally feels like you forget you have worn it. You shouldn’t need to fuss over, nor should it bother you. That, I believe, is essentially what the campaign is about. It is about giving women the confidence to talk about lingerie. I’m very pleased with how the two films turned out. I’m very excited to be a part of a campaign that is going to be disruptive because we don’t have a lot of female actors who support lingerie the way it should be supported. Q: Interestingly, most undergarment dealers in the local markets are all men or have male sales staff. Have you ever had an “oh no!” moment with your bra ‘bhaiyya’?
A: Absolute whether you go to a local store, or you go to malls, or big boutiques everywhere, it’s just men. Somebody like me who is not ashamed of buying bras and kind of owning up to what I want, it still makes me kind of uncomfortable. But I know of many instances with friends and family members, where they literally give in to the pressure and awkward shopping experience that their bra “bhaiyya” gives them. You know by the end of it only a woman recognises what comfort she needs. The sales staff, men in particular, have no idea how to measure the right size, what the needs of customers are, the needs certain bras cater to, and more than often women are so embarrassed that they just pick up whatever is given to them at first. I feel that will change with Nykd.
Q: What audacious, transparent approach is Nykd taking to educate and empower women about lingerie?
A: I think the first approach the intent of the brand, when they rope in an actor to represent them who they choose. I’m someone who has always tried pushing boundaries and spoken-up about things that are important that needed to be discussed through my films. I feel the brand is doing exactly that.
The campaign and its films talk about the right T-shirt bra for you, what is comfortable, and how a bra needs to feel. The film gives you tools to understand what the important factors a comfortable bra needs to deliver. I think that’s so important because I’ve had these issues when I have not worn the right bra and I have felt bloated, I’ve even had back aches and a bad shoulder, wire marks on my body!
A lot of it happened because I didn’t know it was because I was wearing the wrong bra. Luckily because of Nykd, there will be a lot of women who would have access to the right kind of information, as that’s what they are trying to give to women at large through this campaign. I really hope a lot of young adults don’t go through the problems that I went through just because of a bra. A piece of lingerie should feel like a second skin. It is not something that you need to keep adjusting and that keeps irritating you through the day. It needs to give you confidence. Q: Your thoughts on when it comes to wearing sexy sari blouses, women in India don’t give it a second thought, but they don’t have the same attitude towards sexy lingerie or revealing tops?
A: You know that’s a great observation actually, I feel that a woman in sarees is always appreciated and why not, because a woman in a saree looks beautiful. But the moment it’s a cropped top, a bralette or bra, I feel there’s a lot of sexualisation that happens, which is really sad. But now there is an entire generation of millennials and Gen Z that are kind of changing the narrative and I feel very happy that I’m a part of that change.
I feel people today because of social media are owning up to who they are, they are happy to share their opinions and not being restricted to the conditioning that they have been subjected to. So, through cinema, through art, and everything that we are seeing around us, there is a definite change. A lot more women are owning up to their bodies, who they are, and what they like. So I really hope that how deep your cleavage is or how short your skirt is, is no longer a topic of conversation.
Q: In your films you’ve always played empowering women characters, is it important for female actors to ensure they choose films where women have strong narratives to set an example for viewers and create new stories?
A: It is extremely important for female actors to kind of change the narrative and that can only happen through the stories that one chooses. I’ve been very fortunate to have started with a “Dum Laga Ke Haisha”, followed by a series of films I did because I consciously choose roles that I feel are empowering for my gender or empowering to marginalised communities. This is how I can give back and be a part of the positive change that society needs.
Things have changed but the change isn’t big enough for us; for the world to be in an equal place, there is still a lot of bias. Through the stories that I enact, I hope I can keep changing perceptions, and we need more women in places of power. I love the brand Nykaa and Nykd because it’s a brand led by women, it’s a place where quality exists and it is so refreshing to work with equals who understand where you’re coming from and understand your point of view.
KT 2077 was led by artistic director Cosmin Costinas (from Para Site, Hong Kong) and Kathmandu based co-curators Sheelasha Rajbhandari and Hit Man Gurung…writes Sukant Deepak
‘A Woman Was Harassed Here’ — if you were in Mumbai a few years back, it was not uncommon to encounter a bright pink poster with this line at different public spaces. These were the places where artist Aqui Thami or someone she knew had faced harassment. This was also part of the recently concluded Kathmandu Triennale 2077 (KT 2077).
“The project essentially emerged from my desire to mark these spaces to build community, call attention to the harassment women face and most importantly reclaim my power from these spaces where I was rendered powerless. There has been much love shared majorly by women and immediate participation and exchange. Of course, we have also witnessed some hostility from the authorities and people who do not want women to talk back,” this indigenous artist based in Mumbai tells.
Member of ‘Bombay Underground’, a collective that experiments with diverse public art practices, the artist, who runs the ‘Dharavi Art Room’ and started the ‘Sister Library’ as a roaming library aiming to take books to places that do not boast of libraries, and offering space, not just for reading but healing too. Her practice, which is centred around the culture of DIY, self-publishing and guerrilla poster, she believes in the act of ‘doing’ and addresses political and social issues.
Stressing that she had always experienced art as a medium of healing, the artist adds, “Dharavi Art Room is a wonderfully warm family, and we have worked towards building a space where we are allowed to be curious, to make, to question, to dream and so much more in spite of everything that is going on in our lives.”
Currently pursuing a doctoral degree from TISS, Mumbai, the artist says that KT 2077 was refreshing as she witnessed two powerful indigenous curators and artists putting together a brilliant festival. “Such art festivals are crucial for all people to have an opportunity and space to come together and reflect on culture,” she adds.
KT 2077 was led by artistic director Cosmin Costinas (from Para Site, Hong Kong) and Kathmandu based co-curators Sheelasha Rajbhandari and Hit Man Gurung.
Talking about the ‘Sister Library’ which she started when she started reading women exclusively about seven years back, she recalls, “When I started, it was all the books that impacted me and was almost like looking into the mind of the artist. Over the years, it has grown to be so much more. With all the travels and collecting books and independently published works, to starting a radio — ‘Sister Radio’, to a Riso press — ‘Sister Press’ and publishing our newspaper, ‘Sister Times’. The travelling has been extremely enriching. I am forever grateful to the ever-growing community that wants to centre and celebrate women and Women’s works. The work evolves with every interaction and is ever-growing and evolving”
Thami, who grew up in Darjeeling but left home when she was 15-years-old, is in Venice currently, doing a residency at the Ocean Space in collaboration with the Sami pavilion at the Venice Biennale. “I am happy to be here and looking forward to creating work thinking about our relationship with oceans as indigenous peoples.”
Instoried aims to go public via SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) or the traditional IPO route…reports Asian Lite News
Deep tech platform Instoried on Thursday said it has secured $200 mn commitment from global investment group GEM Global Yield, and will use the funds to expand operations globally and develop artificial intelligence (AI)-based content generation tools.
Led by a woman founder, Sharmin Ali, Instoried uses AI to help people write original and more lively content, make messaging crisper, improve headline impact, improve empathy and tone.
Utilising 30 million data points, the platform’s proprietary algorithm powers a top-notch collaborative content creation tool that provides instant feedback in real-time.
“Instoried helps people convey the proper tonality in everything they write from email to blogs, from marketing copy and advertising to long-form articles,” said Sharmin Ali, also the CEO of Instoried.
The platform will further invest in its technology to add a Google Chrome extension, a WordPress plug-in and other elements to its product portfolio.
Under the agreement, GEM will provide a share subscription facility of up to $200 million, to be drawn at the option of the company, for a 36-month term following a public listing.
Instoried aims to go public via SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) or the traditional IPO route.
Additionally, the platform has plans to grow its executive team and presence globally.
For the India market, Instoried will focus on hiring for leadership and technology roles, develop the tech stack to launch their own content generation tool and invest in marketing in India and Asia markets.
GEM is a $3.4 billion, alternative investment group with offices in Paris, New York and the Bahamas.
Notably, the Taliban regime which took over Kabul last August has curtailed women’s rights and freedoms with women largely excluded from the workplace…reports Asian Lite News
In another clampdown on Afghan women, the Taliban have ordered girl students at the Herat University not to wear make-up and short clothes, reported local media.
The group has also restricted the women from recording the voices of male professors who are “non-mahrams”, that is, the person who is not in your relationship, reported Afghanistan-based media outlet, Payk Media.
Notably, the Taliban regime which took over Kabul last August has curtailed women’s rights and freedoms with women largely excluded from the workplace due to the economic crisis and restriction.
Earlier, in a meeting held in Afghanistan, the female Foreign Ministers of at least seventeen countries across the world have expressed deep concerns regarding human rights violations and restrictions against women in Afghanistan, reported Tolo News.
Expressing concern on suppression of women in Afghanistan, the Foreign Ministers called on the Taliban to lift all restrictions, especially education barriers, against Afghan women.
US State Department’s special representative for Afghan women, Rina Amiri, has also said that the Taliban must protect women’s rights if it wants recognition by the international community, Khaama Press reported.
However, the Taliban have accused the previous Afghan government backed by the International Community of providing sham rights to women and depriving them of the real rights of women.
Rally for women’s rights
An Afghanistan rights group recently organised a public rally in Kabul to demand women’s basic rights in Afghanistan.
The group Movement of Change for Afghanistan demanded access to work, education, and political participation of the women in Afghanistan.
The United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet recently visited Kabul, during which she held meetings with representatives of the de facto authorities and civil society representatives.
In a statement on Thursday, Bachelet had stressed that Afghan women must be given the space to lead if the country is to find peace and progress.
The High Commissioner for Human Rights has stressed that girls should be able to go to schools and universities and be empowered to contribute robustly to the future of their country.
“With schools due to reopen on 22 March, I look forward to seeing that the commitments made for all girls and boys to have access to education be fulfilled. Girls and women need to have access to primary, secondary and tertiary education. Such significant steps will go a long way in securing the future of the country,” the UN chief said.
Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August last year, there have been more drastic changes in the country, with the decline in hostilities afterwards the conflict-related causalities have reduced dramatically.
Notably, the Taliban regime which took over Kabul in last August has curtailed women’s rights and freedoms with women largely excluded from the workplace due to the economic crisis and restriction. (ANI)
As long as we know women, who are strong and resilient, we must respect them, carry them forward, lift them up…reports Asian Lite News
Actress Kajal Aggarwal on Tuesday said that the salvation of women would come only if women stood together.
In a Woman’s Day post on Instagram, Kajal said, “Women are fierce. We are powerful. No matter what language we speak, how we dress or the work we choose to do. What matters is we have a choice, and the freedom to carve out a life for ourselves.
“As long as we know women, who are strong and resilient, we must respect them, carry them forward, lift them up.
“For they are the product of all our other selves, the women we were, the ones we strive to be, the collective struggle of our mothers, our sisters, our daughters. Our salvation will only come if we stand together.”
The UN rights chief stated how Afghan women have been attacked for speaking up, and excluded from positions of power and decision-making. “They are not passive bystanders.”…reports Asian Lite News
As the world marked International Women’s Day this week, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has underlined the need to empower women in Afghanistan, saying that they are “not passive bystanders” and should contribute to the future of their country.
Delivering a statement on Women’s Rights in Afghanistan, Bachelet said women of this country are often portrayed in the international fora and media as victims. “In fact, Afghan women have – in the face of war, extreme poverty and unspeakable violence and discrimination – been working tirelessly to protect and provide for their families and communities,” she said.
The UN rights chief stated how Afghan women have been attacked for speaking up, and excluded from positions of power and decision-making. “They are not passive bystanders.”
For this Afghanistan to find peace and progress, Bachelet argued that Afghan women should be active agents for change and be given the space to lead peacebuilding, humanitarian, and development processes.
“Girls should be able to go to school and university and be empowered to contribute robustly to the future of their country. Women should be visibly represented in the police force, in courts of law, in government and in the private sector – indeed in every sphere of civic and public life,” she said.
Condemning all forms of violence against women, she said they have the equal right to demonstrate peacefully without fear of reprisal.
Taliban rule has had a devastating impact on Afghan women and girls, according to several media reports.
Since taking control in August last year, the Taliban have imposed rights-violating policies that have created huge barriers to women’s and girls’ health and education, curtailed freedom of movement, and deprived many of earned income.
On Tuesday, the UN in Afghanistan expressed solidarity with Afghan women and girls as they face the consequences of multiple crises, combined with entrenched gender inequality and discrimination.
The UN Mission in a statement said that women in Afghanistan are disproportionately impacted by a legacy of conflict, in addition to drought and the collapsing economy, which has plunged millions in Afghanistan into debt and humanitarian need.
“What we are witnessing today in Afghanistan is a crisis of catastrophic proportions. Everyone in the country is affected by the current crises, but the situation for women and girls is particularly concerning as their rights and access to opportunities have become increasingly challenged,” said Deborah Lyons, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative (SRSG) for Afghanistan. (ANI)
Novak, a former member of the government as minister without portfolio for family affairs, is taking over from incumbent president Janos Ader…reports Asian Lite News
The Hungarian parliament on Thursday elected Katalin Novak as the country’s first female president for a five-year term, winning over economist Peter Rona in a vote split along party lines.
Novak, a former member of the government as minister without portfolio for family affairs, is taking over from incumbent president Janos Ader, who is ending his second term as president, Xinhua news agency reported.
Hungary’s president is not a member of any political party and represents the unity of the Hungarian state. The Hungarian president’s duties are largely ceremonial.
A labour law passed in 2005, MGNREGA aims to provide at least 100 days of work per household in rural India every financial year…reports Asian Lite News
It was a while back in 2021 that Sarifa Bibi in her late 50s had last managed to purchase substantial groceries for her family, pay the electricity bill, and buy a sari for herself and a shawl for her 17-year-old daughter, Aliknoor. This was when she had managed to secure 29 days of work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). With the financial year now drawing to a close, Sarifa now realises she is far from completing 100 days of work – the minimum number of days of paid labour that the scheme guarantees per household.
The desperation is clear in Sarifa’s voice, as she speaks from her home in Habaspur village. Their family had been forced to seek a loan of Rs 9,000, at a steep interest of Rs 3,500, to buy a smartphone for Aliknoor’s online classes and to get ultrasonography for Aliknoor, who ultimately had to give up attending tuitions due to pending fees.
“We are starving. There is no work,” lamented Sarifa, who supports her husband, three of her four children and a grandchild.
W
A women-centric scheme to no avail
A labour law passed in 2005, MGNREGA aims to provide at least 100 days of work per household in rural India every financial year. The Act requires that women comprise at least one-third of the beneficiaries, which are families whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. In reality, women make up the bulk of MGNREGA allottees across India – in Kerala it’s as high as 90 per cent and in West Bengal, at least half of MGNREGA person-days go to women. The women person-days during the year 2021-22 was 46.58 per cent of the total in the state, and in North 24 Parganas in particular, the figure was at 51.67 per cent for the same year.
Three women – Pampa Sardar, Maya Sardar and Subhashi Sardar – from Rajendrapur in Basirhat 2 block admit the mild relief MGNREGA brought them after they received work for over 30 days under the scheme a few years ago.
“Earlier, we were completely dependent on our husbands,” said Maya Sardar, whose husband is a daily-wage earner, while their son relocated to Tamil Nadu in search of work. “As a family, we had no extra income and were always in debt at the local ration shop. But that changed in 2019, when we started working and earning under the scheme. If our husbands bought rice, we’d buy vegetables. We could even think of spending a little on ourselves.”
However, while working papers indicate much higher women’s participation under MGNREGA in the past 15 years than the mandated 33 per cent, this figure was at a five-year low in 2020-2021, at 53.07 per cent. These numbers from the Ministry of Rural Development allude to a rather worrying trend of feminisation of poverty.
Economists and activists said that the Centre’s allocation of Rs 73,000 crore to MGNREGA in the Union Budget for 2022 – of which over Rs 18,350 crore was pending from the previous year – was far from the amount required for the smooth implementation of the scheme. This inadequacy is a systemic blow to the very backbone of MGNREGA at the grassroots.
Accusing the Central government of “systematically underfunding” MGNREGA, development economist Jayati Ghosh emphasised that this had been “leading to further exclusion of women and an even greater rise in poverty and hunger”.
“It’s also a macroeconomic disaster, further eroding mass consumption demand,” added Ghosh, an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts in the US. “To meet the promise of 100 days of work for the households already registered, the allocation needs to be at least four times higher than the current Rs 73,000 crore.”
She further pointed out that women, in particular, tend to be excluded from job opportunities when they are scarce.
“There was a higher proportion of women under MGNREGA earlier because it offered lower wages than market rates. So fewer men were interested in these jobs back then. But now, amid widespread economic distress and lack of other livelihood opportunities, men are seeking out even MGNREGA jobs,” she explained.
The current rate of wages in West Bengal, for 2021-22, stands at Rs 213 per day.
Over two dozen women from the villages of Hasnabad block in North 24 Parganas said about the dearth of employment opportunities in the region. Besides inadequate funding, lack of transparency in the allocation of jobs, too, plays a significant factor in the deepening rural crisis that has marginalised women even further.
Ranjan Kumar Mondal, an MGNREGA booth supervisor, said that once a scheme is launched, supervisors like him fill up and submit the application forms to the panchayat office, and that workers are often chosen from among those who were enlisted earlier. In some cases, people are informally notified about available work in the area, and their names are passed on to the panchayat.
However, the norms laid down dictate that workers be able to directly approach the panchayat offices. Instead, supervisors fill out the forms themselves and submit the lists to the panchayat once the work is allocated. This lack of transparency leaves a significant proportion of people unemployed.
Moreover, members of the Paschimbanga Khetmajoor Samity (PBKMS) – an independent trade union in West Bengal that promotes the rights of agricultural workers to decent wages, work and food – highlighted the arbitrary manner in which local administrations often allocate jobs, which ultimately fails to meet the demand for work.
“When we demand accountability from them, there are only excuses,” said Suchitra Halder, a senior activist of the PBKMS. “The lack of political will and rivalries among parties are the primary reasons why work does not take off in these areas.”
Anuradha Talwar, a state committee member of the PBKMS, added: “The biggest problem in the coming year is going to be the fallout from the current government’s huge reduction in the MGNREGA budget. It will affect the availability of work, and in West Bengal, women are going to be the worst hit. Men are going back to migration.”
Given how particularly challenging the past three years have been due to the pandemic and cyclones Amphan and Yaas, Talwar warned of soaring rural distress and added, “MGNREGA will no longer be an option for people to rely on”.
Migration in search of employment
In Murarisaha village, at least seven women spoke about the enormous loans – ranging between Rs 30,000 and Rs 1.4 lakh – their families had taken to survive during the Covid-19 lockdowns. Several male members of their households had been forced to migrate to other states in search of employment. Each of these women had a similar question: how would they make ends meet if all their family members remained at home? Although they had job cards, there was no work in the area for them, leaving them struggling to find a way to pay off their mounting debts.
“Why would people leave their villages if work was made available there?” questioned Dipali Tanti, a mother of three whose husband earns around Rs 9,000 per month from working at an aquaculture company in Mumbai. “Our husbands have had to migrate, and we are left alone with our children. There is no point in demanding work as we know there is none.”
Another local resident, Konica Sardar, echoed Tanti’s concerns, wondering how they would pay back the two loans (Rs 1 lakh and Rs 40,000) her family had sought to survive.
“My husband left to work in an embroidery factory in Tamil Nadu. In a few days, my brother-in-law will leave, too,” said the 19-year-old, as she picked up her 2-year-old daughter to feed her.
MGNREGA remains supply-driven
Ravi Srivastava, director of the Centre for Employment Studies, Institute for Human Development, said that though MGNREGA was supposed to be a demand-driven scheme, it remains supply-driven.
“The budget allocated to MGNREGA gives a strong signal to the labour plans and their implementation at the ground level,” he explained. “A slow budget translates to wage delays. This budget is not sensitive to the massive unemployment that persists. The idea that the budget would be raised with a rise in demand is not practical.”
“If you are at the grassroots, you will find that the rozgar sevak will make it known to people that they can work when a scheme opens up and funds are available. People do not come looking for MGNREGA jobs because they know there are none, until the rozgar sevak signals that there are, and this happens only when there’s an easing of fund flow,” Srivastava added.
The panchayat appoints these rozgar sevaks, and supervisors at worksites are called mates. These rozgar sevaks and mates are responsible for distributing job slips.
Sky's the limit for Athulya as she breaks gender stereotypes
Breaking the glass ceiling, 19-year-old Athulya Dinesh has emerged as the first woman to become an IRATA International Certified Rope Access technician in India…reports Asian Lite News
Trained at ‘ARIES Rope Access Certification centre,’ Athulya, who hails from Thalayolaparampu in Kottayam district, is the first Indian woman employed in the hitherto male-dominated sector.
She works as a Rope Access technician at the Aries Group of Companies, here as a member of its specialist team.
A rope access system is a challenging yet safe method of working at heights where ropes and associated equipment are used to access to and from work positions and to be supported there.
Its applications takes place at industrial sectors, including oil and gas, civil construction, manufacturing, petrochemical and such areas.
These industries maintain safety as the first priority with zero tolerance for any mishaps.
Therefore, the rope access service sector adopts rigorous monitoring, controls, robust training, planning, documentation, execution, and an evolving regime of work procedures that imparts skills, knowledge, and experience.
Athulya is at present pursuing her IRATA L-1 certification.
This certification covers a range of rope access manoeuvres, including basic ascending, descending through a twin rope system, various rigging techniques, and a few of the basic rescue techniques.
With prospects to work anywhere globally, she has set an illustrating example by breaking biases in the male-dominated rope access sector – an achievement worth reckoning on this Women’s Day.
“I like adventure and that’s how I came into this field and I am very happy that I have opted for the right profession as with all the licenses, only sky is the limit,” said Athulya.
