Housewives clubbed under economically non-productive in Census; SC upset

TNN

NEW DELHI, 24 July 2010: The Supreme Court has frowned upon the clubbing of `housewives’ with prostitutes, beggars and prisoners under the economically non-productive’ category in the Census, saying this betrayed the "totally insensitive" and "callous" approach of statutory authorities. The stinging observation came from Justice A K Ganguly, who along with Justice G S Singhvi, agreed to increase the compensation awarded to a man whose wife had died in an accident.

 

"This bias is shockingly prevalent in the work of Census. In the Census of 2001, it appears that those who are doing household duties like cooking, cleaning of utensils, looking after children, fetching water, collecting firewood have been categorized as non-workers and equated with beggars, prostitutes and prisoners who, according to Census, are not engaged in economically productive work," Justice Ganguly said.

 

Surprisingly, the description of home-makers as part of the non-productive category had so far gone unnoticed. This clubbing flies in the face of the recognition that household chores performed by homemakers is of considerable economic value. In fact, there is a demand to compute the value of services provided by home-makers. There is also increasing recognition of the unquantifiable service women provide by raising children.

 

The SC frowned upon the low compensation awarded to the family of Renu after her death in a road accident, on the ground that as a housewife, she had no income. The Bench felt that the time had come for Parliament to realize the invaluable service rendered by housewives and amend the Motor Vehicle Act to give them their due. Both judges agreed that the compensation paid by a tribunal, Rs 2.4 lakh, to Arun Aggarwal for the death of his wife Renu was too low as under Motor Vehicle Act provisions, the family was entitled to Rs 6 lakh.

 

The Allahabad HC had upheld the tribunal’s award and the family then moved the apex court. Terming the work of housewives as invaluable for the family, the Bench said, "The gratuitous services rendered by wife with true love and affection to the children and her husband and managing the household affairs cannot be equated with the services rendered by others.

 

"A wife/mother does not work by the clock. She is in constant attendance of the family throughout the day and night unless she is employed and is required to attend the employer’s work for particular hours. She takes care of all the requirements of husband and children including cooking of food, washing of clothes, etc. She teaches small children and provides invaluable guidance to them for their future life," the Bench said.

 

It asked National Insurance Company to pay Rs 6 lakh compensation to Agarwal’s family, with 6% interest. The insurance company will also have to pay Agarwal an additional Rs 50,000 towards legal costs.