Salary to Wife: Is Wife a Servant? Govt. thinks so!

Kumar Rahul Tiwary; Sep 2012

Politicians world over are famous to make illogical laws and pass laughable dictates. Perhaps latest in the list is an upcoming “law” in India where husbands will be legally bound by law to pay a “salary” to wives for performing household work. Initially when I heard about this proposed law and “salary”, I thought it would be just a means to empower women by making them legally own part of monthly household savings (if there were not enough laws already giving them part of husband’s property). But when I read the actual news which clearly mentioned that this salary would be for the “household work done by wives”, I was shocked. Even my wife laughed at this proposed “law”.

The Proposal:

The proposal is mooted by Ms. Krishna Tirath, Minister for Women and Child Development Let us read the minister in her own words:

“A majority of women in India are involved in household chores after getting married but they do not get any salary for it. The socially accepted behaviour becomes a tragedy when a woman gets divorced or is widowed when she is left with nothing for survival. The Government is mulling to bring a law under which a husband will have to legally pay a definite amount to his wife from his salary and the Ministry has started preparing a draft in this regard,” Tirath told Indian Express.

She also favoured for exempting this income from the tax net saying, “The income of the domestic help or cook is not taxed.” “When the housewife is performing all those chores and much more efficiently, why should her income be taxed?” [Ref]

Wives as domestic helps and cooks

Should we thank the minister for putting housewives ahead of “domestic help” or “cooks” by saying housewives performs “all those chores” and “much more efficiently”? I am not sure.

In my personal opinion, this proposed law is so demeaning and insulting to the women that it should never be passed and needs to be opposed strongly. Putting a price tag for the household work a wife does at “her” home brings her to the class of domestic servants and none better.

This proposed law in current shape not only looks foolish but also is provocative. It is not surprising that it has invited the ire of Men’s Rights Groups who have even asked PM’s intervention to stop this law. Save Family Foundation, representing around 40 men's rights organizations across India, has termed this proposal one-sided [Ref]. May be such proposals bring out some positive changes for the rights of men too?

Many individuals and organizations have rightly opposed this proposal. I liked what novelist Dr SL Bhyrappa said on this issue: [Ref: Salary to wife against Hindu Law]

“As there was no dharma and nyaya concept in the western countries, the economic system of such countries is collapsing. The proposed Bill which is suited for Europe and America, will affect the Indian family system,” he said.

“If the government brings in the Bill, the bondage between husband and wife will no longer hold,” he said.

Track Record of Ms. Krishna Tirath

Ms. Krishna Tirath is an MP from Delhi, and member of Congress Party. Her past looks marred by controversies generated by both silly mistakes and serious cases of corruption:

Ministry of Women and Child Development which is headed by Krishna Tirath published a full page advertisement on 2010 to mark the National Girl Child Day. To the embarrasement of whole nation, former Pakistan Air Force chief Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed's photograph appeared in the Ad along with our PM Dr. Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Ultimately, Prime Minister's Office apologized to the nation after Krishna Tirath refused to accept the blunder. You are read this news here [Ref]

In Sep 2012, Central Administrative Tribunal quashed the appoitment of Yashvi Tirath, daughter of Minister Krishna Tirath because of irregularities. You can read about the news here: [Ref: CAT quashes DD selection of minister's kin]

Yashvi Tirath was ranked 33th after a written exam and audition for the post of anchor-cum-correspondent in state run telecaster Doordarshan News. Only 30 candidates were to be called for interview; suddenly, the number was arbitrarily increased to 35. Just as abruptly, barely two days before the interview, its weightage was changed from 25% to 33%.

Yashvi scored an impressive 90 marks in the interview and landed the job. She also happens to be the daughter of minister for women and child welfare Krishna Tirath.

This is only one of 24 such instances of "arbitrary and irregular" appointments made last year that were quashed by the Central Administrative Tribunal on Monday. A shocked Tribunal, headed by chairman V K Bali, cancelled the selection of the journalists working with DD News, finding "misuse of marks in the interview" and "irregularities having vitiated the whole process."

My Conclusions:

1. The proposed law is in blatant disregard to the interests of women and their place in Indian society. It should be rejected and opposed by all.
2. Instead of making such controversial and foolish “laws” to empower women, which would result in more family disharmony as well as degraded status of women in society, the Ministry of Women and Child Development should do real ground work, to both enforce existing laws and to provide support and opportunities to women.
3. Ms. Krishna Tirath, the Minister of Women and Child Development has some tainted past record. All charges of corruption against her should be probed as soon as possible and if found true, she should be punished and the chair should go to someone more competent and sensible than her.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article are personal and do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization associated with the author. There is no attempt to hurt the feelings of readers and any unintended ones are regretted. You are welcome to share your own personal opinion on this article in the comments section.