When it comes to maternal and infant mortality rates, Tamil Nadu betters the national average by a large margin: its maternal and infant mortality rates stand at 90 and 21 respectively, almost half the national average of 178 and 40. Accompanied by a sex ratio of 996 with a female literacy rate of 74 percent (against the national rate of 65), these indicators make for a strong case for improved conditions for women in the state. However, the gender disparity in labour participation – the number of people employed or actively looking to work – in Tamil Nadu makes it clear that improvement on these other parameters have not translated to more women workers. One of the missing links here could be the lack of implementation of maternal entitlements of working women.
Take, for instance, K Kasthuri, a semi-skilled worker at a garment factory in Tambaram, a Chennai suburb. Whenever her four-year-old son falls sick, she faces the predicament of choosing between taking care of him and going to work. Usually, during her work hours she leaves her son at the creche at the factory, but not with absolute peace of mind since she grumbles about the lack of 'supervision' by the attendants. "The problem is that I have to take care of him and also go to work when he is ill. They don't grant leave if your child is sick and I can't afford to lose a day's salary," she says. Kasthuri's employers, like most in Chennai, take advantage of a system which does not penalise employers who do not provide enough safeguards for working women who are expecting or have a child.
Anusha Rajagopal, who has worked in human resources in various IT and ITES organisations in Chennai had to quit her job and later join another company after the birth of her child. Rajagopal feels that even though the organisations she has worked for have all been supportive, it is still an uphill battle for young mothers: "In terms of opportunities, it does put you in a tough spot. Those who go on maternity leave are many times sidelined."
In a country with a population of 1.25 billion people, 475 million people constitute the total workforce across sectors, in both rural and urban areas. Out of this, women make up only 29 percent, or 137.8 million working women across the country. India has one of the widest gaps in terms of male and female labour participation rates among the G20 countries, a whopping 50 percent, according to the last Census data. Among the Southasian countries, India fares worse than Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Bangladesh and ranks better only than Afghanistan and Pakistan. Apart from blatant gender discrimination and the presence of glass ceiling and so on, a key factor responsible for this is also that women have to choose between raising a child and their career.