Ignoring the Neglected Population for Inclusive Growth: A Study of Women in Slums in Jammu City

Abstract

Inclusive growth is a growth which ensures opportunities for all sections of the population regardless of their gender, sex, disability, religion. Women need a special attention with respect to inclusive growth. In India, women make up to 48.5 percent of country’s population. Therefore, women’s participation is prerequisite for inclusive growth. Regardless to this the social attitude and practices prevalent in the society are highly biased against women. As urbanization has been increasing with fast pace the slum population in India (93,053,972) is one of the largest in the world. Addition to it, there is a growth in feminization of urban poverty as inclination of women in the global migration trend is increasing. UN-Habitat considered women as one of the most vulnerable group among the urban poor. While 65.46 percent of adult women are literates urban slum women still deprived of education. Low literacy level in urban slums restricts slum women under the category of casual labourer or domestic servants. During pregnancy they are force to do dual task i.e., paid and unpaid work. Moreover, due to their job pattern they cannot avail maternity leave. Women are neglected on various grounds which confirm that in the modern India, the woman is still a second grade citizen especially in urban slums. This paper deals with the various indicators like educational level, work during pregnancy and treatment during pregnancy problems to throw light on the negligence attitude towards women. A field survey has been conducted on women of 250 households in 10 slums of Jammu city. Also, a detailed comparison between slums has been made.