The long headline, “Lofty ideas for women’s uplift, little to help ease their burden,” more or less summarises the theme of Subodh Varma’s report in The Times of India on 26 April. Calling attention to the fact that in an election supposedly being fought on the issue of “development,” with more political leaders talking more about “women’s empowerment” than ever before, Varma points out that there has been precious little focus on key issues that would vastly improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of women across the country. Among these are better access to water, cooking fuel and toilets. Even though he does not acknowledge that these issues have long been highlighted by women’s organisations and others as matters of particularly great concern and urgency to women, it is refreshing to read a report flagging them as part of election coverage.
Ammu Joseph
