Woman Rights in India

 

Every day in TV or in newspaper there is news bout molestation, ill treatment, suicide or rape of woman. Why it is so when in India we have plethora of legislation protecting the rights of woman and laws to safeguard them. Al this basically arises from two main reasons, the first being the ignorance about these rights among the woman in rural areas, who need them most and a fear of being victimized by the law agencies and relatives not to mention the time it takes to get justice coupled with the financial dependence on husband and family for support. The second is the exactly opposite of first one where in urban areas these laws are being misused by some to victimize, harass and even blackmail. The first can be addressed by suitable education, information, counseling enters, free legal aid societies and by gram panchayats while the second one needs proper legislation and safeguard so that these laws are not misused.

Woman rights can be classified under two broad headings, Constitutional rights and legal rights.

Constitutional Rights

1.       Right to equality. This right includes a host of related rights like no discrimination in employment of sex, to secure adequate means of livelihood, equal pay for equal work, securing just and human conditions of work, and maternity relief, etc.

Legal Rights

1.       Protection of woman from domestic violence act 2005.

2.       Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act 1956.

3.       Indecent representation of woman (Prohibition) Act 1986.

4.       Dowry Prohibition Act 1961.

5.       Maternity Benefit Act.

6.        Medical Termination of pregnancy Act.

7.       Pre conception and Pre Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of sex determination) Act.

8.       Equal Remuneration Act.

9.       Family Court act.

10.   Legal Services Authority Act.

11.   Hindu Marriage Act.

12.   Hindu Succession Act.

13.   Minimum wages Act.

14.   Sexual Harassment of Woman at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013.

Besides the above mentioned Acts both the Indian Penal Code as well as Criminal Procedure Code have certain provisions especially applicable to help woman, like dowry death, cruelty, rape, abduction and other offenses, arrest of woman by female police woman,  and obligation of men to maintain his wife. In addition they have a right against being stalked, right to file zero FIR, right to register virtual complaint, right to keep their dignity anonymous in case of sexual assault and a right to dignity and decency.

In case of a married woman there are some additional rights

1.       Right to matrimonial home, whether owned by husband or his parents.

2.       Right to report domestic violence

3.       Right to abortion.

4.       Right to divorce. Some additional grounds for divorce not applicable to husband.

5.       Right to seek maintenance and alimony.

6.       Right against dowry and harassment.

7.       Right to Streedhan.

8.       Right to claim child custody. If the child is below 5 years then mother have a superior right.

9.       As per court order every police station must have a lady police officer (Not below head constable) round the clock.

10.   A female cannot be arrested by a male police officer.

11.   A female cannot be arrested after sunset and before sunrise.

12.   Police can investigate a woman at her residence.

13.   A rape survivor can record her statement at a place of her choice and the medical procedure of a rape survivor is only to be conducted by a government hospital. All woman are entitled to avail free legal aid.

Noise Pollution

 

We are constantly bombarded day and night by the noise on the road, factories, etc. Constant honking on roads some even using pressure horns while other probably have on hand always on the horn button, noise for vehicle engines not to mention the motorcycles with silencers removed to announce their arrival. If this was not enough then we have the loud speakers from religious places, in rallies, marches and even the jagratas,  DJ’s in marriages, which keep you awake through night for a couple of days. All this leaves me to wonder whether god is listening or he has also gone deaf. This becomes unbearable when these things happen at the time of school, college or other examinations. All this is compounded by the industrial noise created by constant running of machines. Silent zones and no parking are there to be broken only.

In general a human being can tolerate noise level up to 85 db (Decibels) only and anything beyond it can affect productivity and quality of life. A decibel level of common sound above 80 is considered bad while above 100 to 120 are termed uncomfortable. Regular exposure to noise can come out in the form of people being irritable, nervous and face difficulty in taking decisions. A constant exposure of common sound above100 db may damage your ears and you may face difficulty in hearing.

There are 70 noise monitoring stations at present under National Ambient Noise Monitoring network in seven states. The ambient noise level in these states showed that about 90% of states found noise level beyond acceptable limit in both day and night.  This is a matter of serious concerns.

Street level noise is mainly associated with vehicular traffic and is hard to ignore and escape. The mean street level as per one study is about 74db with a range from 55 to 95 db and varies with the density of traffic.

Decibel (Db) is a relative unit of measurement corresponding to one tenth of Bel (b). It is used to express the ratio of the value to a power or field quantity to another on a logarithmic scale. The logarithmic quantity being called the power level or field level. Near silence is 0 db but a sound measured at 10 db is actually 10 times louder and 20 db is 100 times louder than silence, a 30 db is 100 times louder than 10 db. The noise in an average bedroom is about 20 db, a firearm averages between 140 to 165 db, normal conversation is about 60 db and a rock concert averages 120db.

The Government having realized the importance of noise pollution enacted a new set of rules especially dealing with noise pollution entitled Noise Pollution (Prevention and Control) rules 2000 which deals especially with noise pollution in addition to the Air (Pollution Prevention, Control & pollution)  Act 1981. These rules specify the limits of noise pollution in different areas like industrial, commercial and residential and specify the limit in db for each area for day and night separately and the punishment for violation.

In addition silent zones are specified by each state which includes all areas that lie with 100 meters of the premises of schools, colleges, hospitals and courts. The permissible limit in silence zone is 50 db at day and 40 db at night with restriction on use of horn. The limits for domestic appliances lice AC, mixer, air cooler and refrigerator is also specified. Daytime means 0660 hrs to 2200 hrs and night time means2200 hrs to 0600 hrs. Loud speakers and public address systems can be used after permission and not between 2200 hrs to 0600 hrs. In residential areas the limit is 55 db at daytime and 55 db at night time whereas for commercial areas it is 65 and 55 db respectively .Strict fines ranging from Rs.10,000/= to one lac with confiscation of instrument is specified which can be levied on the offender.

The district magistrate is the local authority to monitor, regulate and take action against the offenders which he fulfills with the help of police. A complaint to 112/100 or to the nearby police station is sufficient for the action.