The yester years women were described as beasts of burden because, they had more number of children, large sized families under the joint family system, managed household work without electronic gadgets. Therefore, they spent more time in the kitchen, slogged for the whole day without leisure and were depending totally on men for their survival due to total dependence on fathers or husbands or brothers or sons for their survival .They never bothered about women rights or gender equity and rather enjoyed the protected life offered by men.
However, much has changed in women’s life in the last few decades after the UNO declared Women’s rights as human rights. The spreading of concept like gender equity through women empowerment process led to the granting of education, training , health promotion, legal and political rights. Every country is engaged in women development measures so that women resource can become a productive resource. Therefore, every homemaker currently is wanting to have their independent income either through full time or part-time or flextime job or through home enterprises depending on their special level education and special job skills, leisure time available, health position and the family’s support.
Hence, at present, an impressive number of Indian women are working women with fi e financial independence . Such women have seven responsibilities. They are---Bearing and rearing of children, food management, household works management, health management, guest management, festivals management, and the carrier management. Sometimes, even crisis management becomes their responsibility.
All these responsibilities are to be managed through out their productive years, without any break and with greater efficacy. Job can not be an excuse for mismanaging the home front and home can not be the excuse for below expectation performance in office.
To conduct their life in this manner i.e. balancing the carrier and the home front, the empowered women of today have to be endowed with certain qualities such as , good health, time management skill, juggling act expertise ,hard working ability , team management skill , public relation skill , labour management skills and to top it all good administrative capacity
Take for example, the food management responsibility. The right food, in the right quality, in the right quantity, and in the right time has to be served to the family members, three times a day for many numbers of years without any break. The health of the family depends on the efficient performance of this task. While managing this task several factors such as balanced food, nutrition content, calorie content, environment cleanliness, drinking water quality etc., are to be taken care of. Children’s, adult’s and elder’s food requirement are different and this has to be taken care of. un expected guests are be fed to their satisfaction. Avoidance of wastage has to be given attention Even the food budget has to be kept in mind in these days of inflation. Keeping regular supply and storage of the cooking materials requires meticulous planning. Food management is not an easy task especially when it is rendered for the whole life time of women, without any holidays. The difficulties associated with this task can be realised only when a mother falls sick for few days and unable to cook.
To deal with health matters knowledge about promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative matters needed. For festival management, advance planning skill is needed. For guest management, patience and warm-hardheartedness are needed. To carry forward the family without debts and with savings financial management skill, demonstrated through surplus budgeting is needed. For maintain cordial inter personal relationship with in-laws, guests and neighbors very good public relation skill is needed .children management is the toughest in the administration of family affairs. The mothers have to act as friends, and guides to protect their children from the bad influence of the outside world and to prepare them for a competitive world.
The Corona pandemic has put excessive pressure on women. When the entire family was staying at home all through the day , the demand on their services multiplied . Moreover, they had to protect their members from exposure to outsiders , had to arrange for immunity building food , watch for symptoms of Corona and seek timely medical treatment . They had to put up of absence of domestic assistants, supply endless hot and cold drinks to those on online studies or jobs, assist children to cope up with online classes and wash vessels all through the day. Yet marvelously they coped with all stresses and strains . They deserve all recondition and praise for coping with the pandemic
If we believe that the welbeing of nation depends on the welbeing of the society and which in turn depends on the welbeing of the individual families , we can state with 100 % certainty that the well being of the families revolves around the administrative capacity of women .Generally, most of the women of the world irrespective of the differences in their nationality, language, religion and castes, culture, economic and educational status and background are good administrators of homes and carriers .
Men can never beat women in this matter. A widower finds it extremely difficult to manage home and children and has to rush for remarriage. However, the same is not happening in the case of widows, because they can manage the crisis in their life with their special skills and hence not in a hurry for remarriage and such skills are God’s special gift to them. If there is a supporting family behind them, sky is the limit for them regarding their personal achievements. Even the HR managers in the corporate sector feel that women are better in multi tasking, balancing and team guiding skills after observing their abilities. Women do not consider these seven responsibilities as burden. They are rendered with devotion, love and desire for the welbeing of the family and that is the reason for the failure of the economists to come with a satisfactory theory to estimate the value of household works rendered by women. Women render efficient administrative service free for the family and without any holiday package it is 24x7 hours job . Don’t they deserve three cheers during the season of International Women’s Day’s celebrations?
