Women’s commission plans survey on problems encountered by Harithakarma Sena workers

The Kerala Women’s Commission will conduct a survey/research on the problems encountered by the women workforce of Harithakarma Sena or green brigade in the State.

Commission chairperson P. Satheedevi said at a public hearing held for the women workers of Harithakarma Sena in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday that the problems encountered by the women in this sector would be one of the main topics of studies to be chosen by the commission next year.

Over 200 women workers of Harithakarma Sena participated in the public hearing.

The problems encountered by the women include low monthly wages, health protection issues, harassment from anti-social elements and the demeaning manner in which some of the households treated these women. They also encountered problems in identifying a place where they could store the waste collected and remove the waste properly.

Lacks medical benefits

These women do not have any medical benefits and they demanded special medical camps for them.

Ms. Satheedevi, who addressed the public hearing, said that much more needed to be done to improve the social status of the women workers of Harithakarma Sena, who were helping the government fulfil a major civic responsibility.

The monthly salary of these women workers should become at least ₹15,000, the vice chairperson of Haritha Keralam Mission T.N. Seema said at the meeting.

The fact that these women had to put up with rude behaviour from the so-called educated middle class households indicated that much more awareness needed to be created in society on the huge social responsibility that these women were shouldering, Ms. Seema said.