New Delhi: Admitting the fact that there was a sudden spurt in domestic violence and trafficking of women and children during Covid-19 pandemic, a Parliamentary committee has suggested to the government to emphasize on employment guarantee schemes focusing especially on poor women so that cash transfers through DBT in their names could continue for a longer time.
“Spurt in domestic violence and trafficking of women and children has been happening mainly due to disruption in economic activities, work from home and family spending more time at home during lockdowns,” the Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs headed by Rajya Sabha MP Anand Sharma said. Several incidents have been reported where the female migrant workers and their children were trafficked and had gone missing during lockdowns. The Committee observes that steps may be taken under both rural and urban employment guarantee schemes focusing especially on poor women so that cash transfers through DBT in their names could continue for a longer time.
“Currently, in many rural areas, a moratorium on interest rates for SHGs or loan repayments would also help because they are the women who are supporting their families in a big way. Some of these steps would raise women's participation in employment and also lead to a reduction in violence against them in an effective manner,” the committee said in its report.
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In its reply, officials from the Home Ministry said that the matter has been examined in consultation with the Ministry of Rural Development. “Mahatma Gandhi NREGS is a demand-driven wage employment programme which provides for the enhancement of livelihood security of the households in rural areas of the country by providing at least one hundred days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every household whose adult members (including women) volunteer to do unskilled manual work,” the Home Ministry noted.
The Mahatma Gandhi NREG Act 2005 should give priority to women in such a way that at least one-third of the beneficiaries are women. Mahatma Gandhi NREG Scheme is a gender-neutral programme which promotes participation of women by providing wage parity with men, provision of separate schedule of rates of wages for women, facilities for crèche, work-side sheds for children, and child care services. In convergence with the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), women mates have also been deployed, which again facilitates the participation of women.
The Scheme also endeavors to provide works near the residence of the beneficiaries. These measures enhance participation of women, more than half, which are more than the minimum percentage of 33 per cent as mandated by the Act. Under Mahatma Gandhi NREG Scheme, the wage payment is made directly to the bank and post office accounts of the beneficiary (including women) by the Central Government through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) in National Electronic Fund Management System (NEFMS) implementing States and UTs on regular basis.
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