An ordinary helper at a clinic, Monika fights for her children’s rights to get their caste certificate on the basis of her name, not their father’s, from whom she is separated. Another of her ilk, Subarna Ghosh, strives to check the alarming rise in forcible C-section deliveries. India’s patriarchal passport laws see reforms, thanks to Priyanka Gupta, who battled to get the travel document for her daughter without the name of her husband, who had abandoned them long ago. If you feel safer in your ubiquitous Ola, laud the contribution of Sudipa Bose, who fought for stringent security norms on the cabs. And then, Mahima Suri, who got income tax abolished on her meagre maintenance amount that she and her child got from her estranged husband. Not to forget Uma Subramanian, who crusades against child sexual abuse.
Here are stories of considerable courage and commitment to cause; of women who lead the change, by altering the established order of society and laws of the land. They are out to break the shackles of inequality and ensure that decades-old male-oriented rules change for good and become gender-neutral.
Despite their long-drawn frustrating fights with layers of authorities, they have not given up for future of their children, women like them and common people. Ten such Agents of Change were felicitated by Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi last month.
The fight has just begun for some of them, and the recognition will prove to be an impetus as they are pitted against a giant lobby that has penetration in the highest echelons of power. More power to them.
Sudipa Bose, 44
Co-owner, Sattark Security and Management Services, Noida
Change She Brought
Safety of cab commuters
An Ola ride from her house in Noida to Laxmi Nagar in Delhi became a nightmare for this entrepreneur. Sudipa booked the cab and boarded it after checking the vehicle’s number plate. The mistake she did was not crosschecking the driver’s photo she saw on her phone and the person who came to pick her.
“I sat in the cab and got busy checking my emails on the phone. After 15 minutes, I realised I was not headed towards my destination. I asked the driver and he told me that he was taking a shorter route. I was worried, but put up a brave face,” says Sudipa.
She panicked when she saw that the GPS was turned off and on asking the driver, she was told that Ola doesn’t pay for GPS these days.
“I called up my husband and asked him to check with Ola. To my shock, he told me that my driver was on a route 180 degree opposite to Laxmi Nagar and that the cab agency was trying to call him but he was not taking it. Meanwhile, the driver took me to some bylanes with all men around,” she says.
Not showing the driver that she was scared, which she actually was, Sudipa threatened to call the police if he didn’t stop the car immediately. “He tried to intimidate me and said, ‘We’ll reach the destination soon’. During one of the turnings, he slowed down, and I opened the door and jumped out of the cab. I took an autorickshaw and rushed to the nearest police station,” explains Sudipa.
She realised that the problem was with Ola. It verifies the cab and its driver, but the cab aggregator doesn’t know who is actually driving it. “The man on duty was a truck driver filling in the place of a friend, and he knew nothing about GPS or routes,” she says surprisingly.She wrote to the Ministry of Women and Child Development, suggesting measures such as mandatory GPS panic devices, no central locking system and prominent display of driver's identification and the registration number of the vehicle in the taxi.
The ministry then took up the matter with Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, and some changes were made in the guidelines drafted for cab policy.
Perfect happiness.
It comes every day for me as I look back at the end of the day and feel at least a small good thing happened
Interests.
Gardening, reading and (most favourite) interacting with people
Biggest addiction.
Phone, as I read about the happenings on it, and get a chance to share my views and ideas through social media
Dislikes most.
The status of modern women still remains the same and independence is still a long way to go
Greatest regret.
I wish I was in a position where I could do something for women and children in our society
Mahima Suri, 39
Corporate Banker, Delhi
Change She Brought
Tax exemption on maintenance received by women
In March, Mahima received a court order providing maintenance for her and her three-year-old child. But the banker was surprised when she was told that she would have to pay tax on the amount.
“I lost my job in December 2015. When I received my maintenance, I was told by my CA that it would be treated as an income, which would be taxed as per the slab it falls under,” says Mahima.
She felt it was unjust as, according to her, taxation is against the very grain of providing maintenance.
“It’s common knowledge that maintenance is generally a pittance, and if you tax even that, it is really difficult. And it is kind of double taxation, as the father pays tax and then you add it to the income of mother. India doesn’t follow the double taxation form,” she adds.
Out of desperation, Mahima wrote to Maneka Gandhi, and against her expectations, she received a communication from her office the very next day.
“I was told that she had forwarded it to the Chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights. It was also sent to the Ministry of Finance, and I was told that the reform would come through in some time,” she says, hope floating in her voice.
There is an ambiguity under the Income Tax Act 1961 regarding the taxability of maintenance received by the mother and child. There is lack of clarity on exemption from tax.
A word you want to delete from your dictionary.
Victim
If you could talk in your sleep, what would you say?
I won’t give up
The worst place you could get stuck in.
In a washroom, without water
Where would you go if you were invisible?
Roam the world
Hobbies.
Reading, travelling, music, gardening
Subarna Ghosh, 44
Academic-activist, Mumbai
Change She Brought
Checking alarming rise in C-Section deliveries
The trauma she went through during a Caesarean section delivery thrust upon her by the hospital years ago continues to haunt her. A conversation, where women shared their bad experiences of delivery due to forcible C-section, made Subarna take up the cause.
“Data shows that C-section rates are high across all institutions—public/private—in India. Years ago, I went through a Caesarean, which was not medically defined. It was termed elective Caesarean if I was electing it, but in a way manipulation happened,” says Subarna.
While pursuing her doctoral research on women’s experiences during childbirth from the Centre for Women Studies, SNDT Women University in Mumbai, Subarna spoke to several women, and their experiences were crazy.
“I met a group of women who went through C-section, and there were some other pregnant women who didn’t want it. We formed a women’s collective called ‘Birth India’ for voicing concerns about their reproductive rights, and rights of pregnancy and child birth,” she says.
According to Subarna, Birth India is spreading awareness about what is happening to women and what they can do.
“I was a journalist writing on maternal health, and interviewed lots of women who spoke about their deliveries that were not pleasant to hear. They all felt their rights were violated, the way medical intervention had happened on their bodies. However, they didn’t know how to raise their voice against it and do something,” she adds.
All these experiences made her start an online petition demanding the government to make it mandatory for hospitals to publicly display the number of C-section surgeries and normal deliveries.
The matter was taken up by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, and a letter was sent to health ministry for action.
“The ministry has been pushing the health ministry for this, but I am yet to get a response from the latter. I understand there is a big lobby against it, but I’ll continue fighting for it as it’s my right as a consumer,” she says.
The thing that interrupts your thoughts the most.
My backache
Most glaring about human nature.
Empathy
Interests.
Watching films, listening to music
You would put into your ‘bucket’ right now.
Trek in the Himalayas
A weird quirk.
I keep stirring the tea long after the sugar has dissolved
Uma Subramanian, 31
Founder & Co-Director, Aarambh India, Mumbai
Change She Brought
National Alliance Against Child Abuse
While working to protect children from sexual abuse, Uma stumbled upon a case that left her looking for a mechanism that could ensure child sexual abuse material on the internet can be tracked and taken down.
The case involved a 15-year-old boy who had shared a naked image of himself, and a perpetrator was blackmailing him that it was out on social media.“While the boy said he didn’t put it on social media, we didn’t know where the image went. As police investigated the matter, we were clueless,” says Uma.
What concerned Uma was the fact that India lacked a mechanism where people can go and report such cases, so that the pictures and videos could be removed from the internet. This triggered Aarambh to devise a system that can screen and remove online child sexual abuse material.
“We came upon UK-based Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), which has one of the most successful hotlines in the world. We wrote to them asking them to work with us because they had the expertise,” she says.
What happens to photos and videos of victims of child sexual abuse when they are uploaded on the internet? “There is a worldwide research that people who view child pornography abuse children,” she says.
With the support of IWF, a meeting was held with the Centre and a roundtable with all big tech companies such as Google, Twitter and Facebook. Consequently, a National Alliance Against Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation was launched in September 2016 by the Ministry of Women & Child Development.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Electronics and IT has issued an order to all Internet Service Providers to adopt and implement IWF resources before July 31, 2017, to prevent distribution and transmission of online child sexual abuse materials into India.
For Uma, this is just a beginning and there is a long way to go on the safety of children at every level.
Who do you trust with your life?
My family and my team at the Aarambh India Initiative
A thing you keep losing.
My patience (I lose it a lot), with unauthentic and fake people
How important are looks?
Depends on what one is looking at
Least favourite word.
Impossible
Interests.
Dancing, dancing and some more dancing
Monika, 26
Clinic Helper, Delhi
Change She Brought
Reforms in mandatory father’s or husband’s name for SC/ST certificate
She smoothly juggles her job and her higher studies, while remaining focused on bringing up her two children—aged seven and eight. But the problem started last year, when she applied for a Scheduled Caste (SC) certificate for her children in the Sub-Divisional Magistrate’s office at Pitampura.
Her application was rejected on the grounds that children can get an SC certificate only on their father’s name and not mother’s. Monika, who had got mutually separated from her husband, went from pillar to post to get the certificates based on her name. But she was denied it. She even met Delhi Cabinet minister Satyendra Jain, but in vain.
“I was troubled when I knew that my children can’t get caste certificates based on my name, despite having all supporting documents; even I had my SC certificate. Why having the father’s name is mandatory for children to get the certificate?” wonders Monika, feeling proud that she fought for her rights.It was then that her employer suggested her to take to social media and send a message to Maneka Gandhi.
“I created a Twitter account and tweeted to her. To my surprise, ma’am responded affirmatively within a week that it would be included in the proposed National Policy for Women and be taken up as one of the action points,” she says with a wide smile.
Monika, who likes to be addressed by her first name only, is hopeful that change will happen soon, and it will bring relief to thousands of other mothers in the country who must have been struggling for their genuine rights like her.
“I have been telling my friends and relatives to fight for their rights, and I am the best example for anyone to see,” she smiles.
Afraid of.
People who lie and deceive
You would like to visit.
Famous religious places
Interests.
Cookery, reading about latest fashion/make-up trends
Love to.
Spend time with my children,and be with family and friends
Something you want to do in your life.
Study further and get a good job so that my children can have access to all they want
Priyanka Gupta, 45
Working with an international organisation, Delhi
Change She Brought
Passport reforms for women
Her 20-year-old daughter, when getting her passport made for the first time, wanted to only keep mother’s name in the document. She was, however, forced to write both her parents’ name as it was mandatory under the law.Priyanka says she and her daughter, now 22, were opposed to the travel document having the name of the father, who left them when she was born.
“I had not made her passport till now because I wanted to save her from the ordeal that she would have to undergo when she applied for it. My daughter was adamant that if I didn’t get father’s name removed, she would move court and get the name removed,” says Priyanka.
It was in 2016 that Priyanka swung into action and started a petition on Change.org which, to her surprise, got a huge response with several people from across the world signing it.
“I had marked the petition to Manekaji (Minister for Women and Child Development), Sushmaji (External Affairs Minister), Rajnathji (Home Minister) and the Prime Minister’s Office. It was the WCD minister who replied to it that both the ministries (WCD and External Affairs) are working to change it,” she says with a smile.
Now, guidelines have been amended to provide for only the mother’s name to be specified in the child’s passport on the basis of self-declaration by the mother.For Priyanka, the best thing is that her daughter is happy and now she wants to get her passport changed at the earliest.
Interests.
I like reading thrillers and kids’ novels. My favourite novelist is Stieg Larsson.
The time you feel really nervous.
While waiting to see the reaction of my mother when I do some mischief along with kids
The first thing you do after a long day at work.
Come home and hug my mother and kids. That's the best stress buster for me.