For Us, By Us, Of Us: News From The Women Of Harijan Basti

Over the last few months, the founding of a Women’s Resource and Support Centre has been underway in a small basti in Gurugram. While condominiums tower over its two- and three-storey buildings and its narrow lanes, Harijan Basti is now the site of an empowering initiative. The settlement is populated by migrant women workers, many of whom live alone in one-room sets. Most of them are employed in these condominiums to cook, clean, wash, babysit, and more. A few of them manage tea stalls and small shops. Each of them realise that there is more they want out of life, for themselves, the families that depend on them, and their children who are growing up in an increasingly uncertain world.

The Centre, as the women have planned, will perform the following key functions:

• An information hub on rights and legal mechanisms
• An Adult Learning Center to develop skills like sewing, cooking, business management, and more
• A safe, clean, collectivizing space for social interaction, recreational activities, and stress-free downtime
• A recruitment/employment advisory

During the course of our various interactions with the women of the community, they reported a complete lack of information regarding their legal rights as citizens, as workers, and as women. Many issues that they faced, from sexual- and gender-based violence to abusive employers, became invisibilised. The issue of sexual harassment at their place of work was also one that needed to be tackled. As an Information Hub, the Centre will provide support to survivors in approaching Local Complaints Committees in their district. It will also empower the women to take on employment where sick leave, casual leave, fair pay, and other protocols are followed by employers.

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically reduced their incomes. Many cut loose their domestic workers without a salary or any support money. The importance of sustainable employment and economic well-being is certainly not lost on them. Now, more than ever, it is necessary to lay the foundations of a future where women, migrated to cities like Gurugram in search of work, don't just survive but thrive. 

This project, 'Sapne Mere, Bhavishya Mera', has revealed very encouraging attitudes about how women in the community envision their futures through the Centre. Learning new skills will ensure better employment opportunities.

When Program Officer Samiksha spoke to the women of Harijan Basti about what each of them wanted to derive from the Centre, this is what they told her:

















There are many pitfalls to doing informal work. Migrant workers have to face numerous challenges while they eke out a living. And women migrants have unique challenges when it comes to childcare, maternal health, dealing with sexual harassment, and much more. The Women's Resource and Support Centre, set up under PRIA's project 'Sapne Mere, Bhavishya Mera', promises to be a unique physical space aimed at cementing each woman's future as a skilled entrepreneur.