MP Tarun Vijay demands separate agro commission for women

According to a recent report by S&P 500, women CEOs received better monetary compensation than their male counterparts last year. This slowly closing gender gap, which seemed a farfetched dream in India, might just be on its way to be realized. BJP’s Rajya Sabha member, MP Tarun Vijay put forward a demand to establish a separate agro commission and an Agro Women's Bank (Mahila Krishak Bank) for women farmers.

The demand, supported by the Members of Parliament from parties like Congress, CPI, CPM, JD(U) and BSP, if paid heed to, will help reduce the gender gap in terms of wages in the rural sector. Yesterday, Vijay stated that women constitute about 66% of the agricultural work force, and despite all the extra effort put in by them, they are paid less than the male famers. He also added that after farmer suicides, it is the women who have to face the hardships in the family and no attention is given to their plight.

Indian women farmers

Picture By: OxFam Blogs

He added, “A woman works for 3,485 hours in a year on a one hectare farm as compared with 1,212 hours by a man and 1,064 hours by a pair of bullocks.

She saves, spends money on children, is the best re-payer of loans, still she never appears as an independent, significant contributor to the rural economy and national GDP. I demand that the government must establish an agro commission for women farmers to take care of wages parity and focus on empowering women farmers as an independent entity. I also urge the government to start agro women’s bank( Mahila Krishak Bank) to focus attentively on helping women farmers financially,” according to a report by The Tribune.

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