The Worth of Homemakers

After being categorised with beggars and prisoners in the Census for ‘not being engaged in economically productive work’, homemakers’ contribution to society was recently acknowledged by the Supreme Court.

After being categorised with beggars and prisoners in the Census for ‘not being engaged in economically productive work’, homemakers’ contribution to society was recently acknowledged by the Supreme Court. It urged Parliament to amend laws such as the Motor Vehicles Act to fix compensation when a road accident victim is a homemaker. For this, the value of the homemaker’s work will have to be assessed. In a landmark judgment, the apex court awarded Rs 6 lakh compensation to Arun Agarwal, husband of Renu Agarwal, an accident victim. This, after a tribunal which had fixed the compensation at Rs 6 lakh reduced it to Rs 2.5 lakh. When Arun’s appeal to the High Court was dismissed, he moved the SC. Is Parliament listening?

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