Socio - economic status of women stone crushers a case study of Sita paila VDC of Kathmandu district

Abstract

This thesis is a study of the socio economic status of women stone crushers in Sita Paila V.D.C. The main aim of this study was to find out the socio economic condition of women stone crushers. For this purpose, ward no. 5 of Sita Paila, namely Aadeshwar Mahadev, was selected where there was a stone mine with an approximate number of 500 stone crushers working there, among which a total of 120 workers were estimated to be women. The main questions addressed in this thesis are: what is the social situation, economic status, work condition, health status and attitude of the women stone crushers? Thus the objectives of the study were to find out the social status of women stone crushers, their economic condition, their health condition, their situation at their workplace and general attitude towards their occupation. The methodology used was interviews conducted in the field, which were supplemented with the review of the available literature on the issue. The findings of this field study regarding the social status of women stone crushers clearly reflected that very few respondents lived in joint families whereas the rest (90 percent) lived in nuclear families. It was also found that they did not face any problems in their family regarding their work. These are strong indicators to explain their degree of freewill at home and at their workplace. Almost half of the respondents were found to have more than three children which signify lack of family planning awareness. The result of the study with respect to the economic status clearly showed that they were paid in accordance to how much stones they were able to crush. Also, it was seen that they could choose to either work or not work. Hence, they had their free will on how much they wanted to work. There were not any hard and fast rules at their workplace. For most of the women stone crushers, their family’s average income per month started from approximately Rs. 4000 up to Rs.10000. It was found that 60 percent of the respondents mentioned that their family’s monthly income was sufficient signifying the attitude of self dependence and self pride. The problems they faced due to insufficient salary were; their income was not enough to cater to the needs of their children’s education as well as food and lodging. Regarding changes at their workplace, 83 percent of the respondents mentioned that they had not experienced any changes. Also, none of them were engaged in other income generating activities. The study further revealed that 32 percent had been away from work due to accidents. The type of accident was mostly minor injuries like cuts and bruises, eye injuries and eye infection and some having serious accidents leading to fracture of legs and hands due to heavy stones. It was found that 48 percent of the respondents solely took care of the household activities. Most of their children were grown-ups, some brought their the children at the site, for the remaining their children were looked after by their relatives , neighbours and husbands. Regarding health condition, it was found that 45 percent had suffered from various illness/ disease within the past six months. Among them 78 percent mentioned going for allopathic treatment. It was further revealed that 40 percent of the respondents mentioned having health problems due to their occupation which included illness/ diseases such as respiratory problem, limb problems and eye problems. Regarding the attitude towards their work it was found that 54 percent of the women stone crushers mentioned that they were satisfied with their work and 23 percent were happy. Among the respondents who mentioned that they felt that their work as a stone crusher was miserable(23 percent) the solution they gave to improve their situation was higher wages and good working condition. With respect to their view about stone crushers, 45 percent of the respondents mentioned that being a stone crusher is a good opportunity for those who are unemployed and uneducated, 25 percent mentioned that they did not have any comments, 20 percent said that being a stone crusher is a harsh experience whereas the remaining 10 percent mentioned that they were very happy and proud to be a stone crusher. Hence, the research contributes to giving a picture of the situation of women stone crushers in Nepal. The study shows the picture of the social, economic, work and health status of women stone crushers and to some extent, their attitude and aspirations. The study also discusses on various recommendations made on the same