Women workers being shortchanged!
It is a fact that in spite of the commitments made by the government, NGOs and social workers for gender equality and ensuring the rights of the weaker section of the society, women continue to be discriminated against, and in various ways too.
It is unbelievable, but true nonetheless, that such an instance of blatant discrimination against women, this time in terms of wages, has come to light through a report in this newspaper recently. Reportedly, women labourers in the district of Lalmonirhat are being paid much less than their male counterpart despite putting in equal work hours and performing similar job as men, in various workplaces. And the wage at times is only one-third of their fellow male workers. And then there are the middle-men preying on their wages.
We are quite certain that what is happening in Lalmonirhat is fairly representative of the situation allover the country. And this is not happening in the private sector alone, where women workers in farms and brickfield, and even hotels and restaurants, are getting a raw deal, it is also occurring in government projects.
What has the authorities got to say about some women labourers, working at Teesta Bridge construction site in the Sadar upazilla, getting Tk 100 to 110, while a male labourer working at the same site was given Tk 250 to 300 per day? And this is happening despite the fact that the women workers have been found to be more sincere, energetic, and generally have better output than men, according to the employers.
Several things emerge from this which the government should address. Firstly, such acts of discrimination against women must be dealt with firmly. Secondly, oversight mechanism should be put in place that would be able to detect such transgressions.
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