Batool Kauser was rushed to the civil hospital when she fell unconscious due to heat, the fumes rising from the chemical fertiliser she was applying, and weak health.
Taking care of the family’s five acres of land since the death of her husband a couple of years ago, Ms Kauser is amongst the 68 per cent illiterate female farm workers. Even before her husband’s death, she had been working in the fields shoulder to shoulder to save labour costs.
A mother of three, she says fainting is not the only hazard at the farm. Without day care centres, babysitters, or a joint family system, children have to be carried to the fields. Proximity to hazardous agricultural chemicals, snake bites, and stray dogs are all threats to children as well as their mothers.
Harassment at the hands of male workers and landlords is common due to the women’s subservient position. Unlike industrial or commercial sectors, there is no help at hand in the form of nearby colleagues, she narrates.
During her husband’s lifetime, she knew little about micro-credit facilities. After his death, fear of getting trapped in the vicious cycle of interest made her depend on loans from friends and family. Furthermore, a social restriction on women’s mobility prevents her from attending meetings and signing (thumb impression) required documents to obtain formal loans.
She admits that she had little control over decision making during her husband’s lifetime. Similar to other women workers, she was involved in ‘manual’ tasks such as digging, stacking of bales, sowing seed, plucking vegetables, and peeling sugar cane. Her husband would do the ‘heavier’ and somewhat more technical work, such as ploughing, watering, tractor driving, and dealing with heavy agricultural machinery.
The country’s step-children
Mahr Ikramullah Lak
Farmer