The rights of those holding up the sky

A new website helps women know about their legal rights, and brings to one place, all the schemes that the state has put in place for problems faced by women. Whether it works is still to be tested

If you are even minimally keyboard-dextrous and are a woman (or not, as the case may be), you can find out everything the state is doing for you — just click on the NARI website (NARI.nic.in), select options from a dropdown menu and you will get access to all the information — about schemes, areas where they are operating, whom to contact, online copies of forms — everything.

When Women and Child Development (WCD) minister Menaka Gandhi inaugurated the website on January 2, she said she saw it as a platform that will provide information to women on issues affecting their lives. Over 350 schemes are listed on the website which is designed for easy navigation. It provides links to ministries, departments and autonomous bodies offering the schemes as well as easy access to online applications and grievance redressal. 

But that’s not all. You are having problems in your marriage? Domestic abuse? There are hundreds of legal and other remedies available to you that you might not even know about. For instance, domestic violence (both in your parent’s home and your in-laws) can be reported and what is more, culprits can be fined upto Rs 20,000 plus a jail term. The website explains very simply, whether you are covered by the law, what to do if you are a victim and where to go. If someone has hurt you, there are one stop centres (called SAKHI, usually a hospital) where there will be people to take care of you with sympathy, understanding and (hopefully) tenderness.

In urban areas, arguably the most oppressed category of women are domestic help. While the website does not yet have all the details of legal assistance that covers domestic help, with little bit of assistance, she can open a bank account, be guided about how to apply for a bank loan and even a passport. The website gives details of entitlements of maternity benefits. If a woman has been harassed at the workplace, it provides legal remedies on how to lodge a case. There is information on investing and savings and easy insurance.

There are some schemes that are tailored for specific categories of women — like the Sukanya Samriddhi scheme, for instance. Then, state governments have their own schemes for the girl child. In many cases the money put aside for these schemes is returned unspent — simply because there are no claims on it. The NARI website seeks to correct that. There are tips on good nutrition, suggestions for health check-ups, information on major diseases, tips for job search and interviews. It has links to the National Career Service (confess, you didn’t even know such a things existed) which will match your qualifications with the company which is looking for someone like you. The website has details of the Rashtriya Mahila Kosh, underutilised because most women are just too intimidated by the paperwork. The website helps you pick your way through all that. There are a plethora of Direct Benefit Transfer schemes exclusively for women, like the Janani Suraksha Yojana (for which you will have to contact the Ministry of Health) and the Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Jan Aushadhi Yojana. Launching the portal, Gandhi said: “It will endow women with the power of information to build their life skills and facilitate them in taking full advantage of the services provided by the government.”

But does it work? Can you walk into the health ministry and demand your right to an allowance if you are expecting a baby? That part remains to be tested. And the down side is the website is only in English (there is a Hindi option but for some reason it doesn’t work). But the website has been launched. And if knowledge is power, demanding a right comes next.