Photos of a Mathematics exam paper answer sheet apparently completed by a seventh standard student is now the hottest debating point among Indian users in social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
The question was very simple: "A woman earns Rs 18,000 in 15 months. How much money she will earn in a month? How much she can earn in seven months? How long will it take for her to earn Rs 30,000?"
The student answered each of these questions correctly without any mistakes. And at the end of the answer, he wrote a very thought-provoking sentence, "This woman worker is underpaid."
As this kind of an answer was never expected from a child studying in the seventh standard, photos of the answer sheet are now going viral on the internet. But the words from this student pose a million questions to the Indian society, which is primarily male-oriented.
Why women are being treated as second-class citizens, especially in the labor sector?
Citing the example of Kerala, we can clearly say that there is a heavy disparity in pay between men and women workers. A man who is doing construction work earns somewhere around Rs.700-1000 a day in Kerala, but a woman gets only between Rs.300-450.
In the textile industry too, women employees are facing severe atrocities from the side of the management. A year ago, it was reported that some of the leading textile showrooms in Kerala were not paying as per norms to saleswomen, and they are not supposed to sit inside the shop even when customers were not there.
These are broad daylight facts we notice at a time when the whole nation is talking and fighting for gender justice. If the condition of women in a highly educated state like Kerala is so pathetic, then what will be the case of women workers in other states?
It's time for authorities to answer the way the Seventh Standard student mentioned in his/her answer sheet.
