State of Chandigarh women still regressive, reveals survey

Naina Mishra

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Chandigarh, May 7

National Family Health Survey-5 has revealed that the state of women in Chandigarh is still regressive in several aspects and a lot needs to be changed in society. Women lack employment, have lesser independence in making monetary transactions and show poor health indicators.

A majority of 78 per cent women (15 to 49 years) were not employed in the 12 months preceding the survey and only 20.5 per cent women were “currently employed”. Only 54 per cent of women who have money can decide how to use it, and 25 per cent women have never used the Internet, against 91 per cent men users.

Shockingly, about 10.7 per cent women (15-24 years) still use “cloth” during their menstrual cycle and 23.7 per cent use locally prepared napkins.

Around 4.2 women had undergone abortions during their pregnancies, which is slightly higher than India’s average of 2.9 per cent. The main reason for abortions in Chandigarh was found as unplanned pregnancy – 66.4 per cent — followed by complication in pregnancy at 17.3 per cent.

The prevalence of anaemia among women (15 to 49 years) is also very high in Chandigarh at 60 per cent. Anaemia varies by maternity status — 61 per cent of women who breastfeed babies are anaemic, compared with 52 per cent women who are pregnant and 57 per cent women who are neither pregnant nor breastfeeding.

Only 7.1 per cent of women in Chandigarh had visited a health facility or camp in the past three months, whereas for men it was 27.4 per cent. Only 13 per cent of women covered by any health scheme or health insurance against 27.2 per cent men. The second highest proportion of overweight or obese women is found in Chandigarh at 44 per cent.

Aslo, 69.1 per cent of men in the age group 15-49 years in Chandigarh believe that “contraception is women’s business and a man should not have to worry about it”, and 40% believe that women who use contraceptives may become promiscuous.

Only 30.4% own house alone or jointly

As far as property rights are concerned in Chandigarh, only 30.4 per cent women own a house alone or jointly while the national percentage is 42.3. Only 9 per cent of women own land alone or jointly, but it is far more at the national level — 31.7 per cent.