New Delhi: Amid debate over the government move to consider making it mandatory for men to give a portion of incomes to their wives doing household chores, Union Minister Krishna Tirath on Tuesday said the move should not be considered as providing salary for housework.
"I am not using the word salary to signify this amount. What can you call it, may be honorarium or some other name. If the women have to be given money, what is the objection? Even now husbands do hand over their salaries to their wives," Tirath told PTI here.
"In families in which there is a lot of love and affection, there would be no reason for people to oppose such a proposal. Even otherwise the woman is anyways going to spend on her(self) or her family," the Women and Child Development Minister added.
At the moment the idea is to be discussed threadbare before any rules can be proposed, she said.
"We are considering this step because it may also become a strong deterrent to domestic violence. Men will not be able to tell women to get out of their home," she said.
Tirath said that while working women were empowered, housewives were not that empowered. She added that there was a need to get data related to the numbers of housewives and their economic status.
She further said in cases where men were working as housemakers, the vice-versa could also be applied.
The Minister said if there was support to this proposal, the government could devise schemes like tax rebates to encourage sharing the earning with wives.
"Till now we are trying to make sure that the number of work hours that a housewife puts in, they are recognised and the women of the house is given the due respect in society," Tirath said.
PTI
