Woman power: group releases manifesto

“Commodity prices have increased to unacceptable levels. We want prices to be brought down. We also want a list of 14 items — of pulses and food grains — to be included in the Public Distribution System,” said Sanyogita Dhamdhere,representative of Centre for Advocacy and Research.

The Samiti has called for the revision and update of existing women-centric policies formulated over the last two decades. “The Shiv Sena- BJP government and the Congress-NCP government had formulated two women-centric policies. However,they were not completely implemented. We want a revision of these policies and the next government to form a new women’s policy,” she said.

Some of the other demands of womens’ groups are: proper implementation of the Domestic Violence Act — till now there is no budgetary provision for the Act,while protection officers have no powers. Self help groups are yet to get loans at 4 per cent interest.

The manifesto also calls for a special package for the widows of farmers’ who committed suicide. It demands aid for drought-hit families. Despite the rising demand for Employment Guarantee Schemes,women are often not considered,Dhamdhere said. “Also single women — whether they are widowed or divorced or unmarried — are rarely considered for the EGS. We are also calling for a single women census,” she added.

The Samiti is also against the two-child limit for panchayat heads. “A lot of factors are responsible for the birth of a child. Women are not the decision-makers. When male sarpanch’s have their third child,they disown their wives. Women sarpanch’s do not do that,” she said.

The Samiti has called for the implementation of the Sri Krishna Committee report,the Sacchar Committee report,implementation of 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha,implementation for 50 per cent reservation for women at panchayat level.