ily status and shifts. "We do not mind taking them even on a trial basis and seeing if they suit the job. After training, they can decide if they want to stay or not." While KSRTC is several inputs from employment exchanges for the post of female conductors, they will have a long wait before the recruitment finally kicks off. "We are informing women who apply for the post of conductors about the requirement of women drivers, hopefully they will come forward and become drivers in a few months," says a BMTC officer. Women labourers - twice cursed By Rupa Deasai Abdi Whether the post industrial era has marginalised or empowered women is a debatable issue, but the fact that industrialisation has made the working environment more hazardous for women, requires no debate. In Gujarat a large number of women work in the unorganised sector, where they are doubly oppressed- both as workers and as women. Working conditions in most Indian industries being what they are, the female worker is twice as much vulnerable to the occupational hazards, as her male counterpart, for not only her own body but also her womb- the future generation is at risk. Agriculture still remains a major source of livelihood in Gujarat with about 30-40 lakh workers engaged in agriculture and related occupations. Out of these, a sizeable number are women. Apart from the usual tasks of sowing, weeding, etc the women agricultural labourers are also engaged in the spraying of chemical pesticides. Most of these women are not aware of the damage that these chemicals do to their bodies. In addition some of the pesticides being used in Gujarat and elsewhere in the country are banned in the West due to their highly toxic nature, such as DDT and Methyl Parathion. None of these agricultural labourers are provided with masks to prevent the inhalation of toxic chemicals. Goggles to protect the eyes are also not provided. Organophosphates, the most deadly constituents of the chemical pest...
