age. The wages at Alang are better than what these women may earn as agricultural labourers, but Alang has earned disrepute for its highly hazardous working conditions and toxic pollution. These women are exposed to both these evils.They are not aware of the different kinds of pollution that their bodies are exposed to, as they stand in ankle deep waters and work in plots thick with fumes from metal welding. There are many other areas such as construction sites, municipal works, where women labourers form a large part of the immigrant, contract labour force. They toil for hours exposing both, themselves and their children to poor working conditions and exploitation. What is worse is that, most of these women are not healthy to begin with. They suffer from malnourishment, anaemia and general disability because of inadequate diet. Most of them have to work because they belong to landless families and must offer their labour for a pittance. In the new millennium, while their more fortunate, urban counterparts seek a new identity these women continue to suffer and struggle for mere survival. Dairy project a boom for rural women By Tarun Subhash LUCKNOW: * Shanti Devi Yadav, a middle aged women living in an interior village of Barabanki, some 30 km away from Lucknow, who had been serving her family for more than 20 years and had never stepped out of her home, has now discovered a new engagement for herself and a source of earning too. She was pursued by a neighbour to purchase a buffalo. She was a little hesitant but started milk trading despite resistance from her family members. Now after putting in three arduous years, Shanti has bought six buffaloes and has also become the secretary of the Mahila Dugdh Samiti in her village. Working under her are 50 women. Now her husband and kids also help her out in running the business. * Shanno, who was married to a labourer in Chittapattie, a village in Faizabad district. The family lived in acute p...
