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Kathmandu Saturday September 16, 2000 Bhadra 31, 2057.
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Weak law blamed for labour disparity
By a Post Reporter
HETAUDA, Sept 15 - Mailee Blon from Daman Village Development
Committee in Makwanpur works nine hours for mere Rs 60 per day while her male co-worker
Prahlad Yonjon earns Rs 80 for the same work.
In terms of wages she seems exploited, but believe it or not,
she is luckier than other women workers in the nearby VDCs like Palung and Hatiya where
they get just half the wage Mailee is receiving. In general, it is the plight of women
workers all over the country.
The discrimination against women workers is rampant despite
the government's decision to stop wage discrimination on the basis of gender, just six
months ago. The apathetic behaviour against women workers in all the sectors is taking
place because of poor implementation of the law, commented an official at the Labour
Department. The local authorities are also to blame for turning a blind eye towards the
problem.
However, the Ministry of Labour has formed Labour Offices in
various districts to ensure that women labourers are paid justifiably as mentioned in the
Labour Act, by the industries they work for. Though the performance of Labour Offices is
yet to be evaluated, agricultural labourers think that such a mechanism should be
implemented in agricultural sector too. "Similar unit would definitely promote
welfare of the agricultural labourers," said Lalit Kumar Basnet, agricultural labour
leader in the district to The Kathmandu Post.
Meanwhile, many Mailees wonder why do they get lesser wage
than males for the same job. "I wonder why we (women) get paid less than men,"
says Mailee. She comes from Daman Village Development Committee -7 of Makwanpur and works
as agricultural labourer. "I work no less than any man. In fact, I work harder than
many of my co-workers," she laments.
Her employer Ratna Bahadur Lama has his own reservations.
"Women can't work as hard and fast as men do," he argues. "After all, men
are stronger and can perform hard and risky jobs. That is why they are paid more."
District Development Committee Makwanpur, however, maintain
that it has recently fixed Rs 70 per day as the minimum wage for the all types of
labourers, irrespective of their sex, and eventually ordered all the VDCs in the district
to see that it is enforced.
As it is very difficult to enforce same wage for the
agriculture labourers of both sexes in the rural areas, the DDC has selected few VDCs as
samples for rigorous implementation of the same, the DDC says. Other VDCs will soon be
forced to comply with the Law.
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