‘Never Underestimate The Value Of A Homemaker’ Says The Supreme Court: About Time!

The family went on to appeal to the Supreme Court and the SC bench of justices Kant and Viswanathan has made some of the most powerful observations in this case.

A woman in Uttarakhand lost her life in a motor accident. Her husband and minor son were compensated with Rs 2.5 lakhs by a motor accident claims tribunal. When the family appealed to the High Court for a higher compensation their plea was dismissed because the HC justified the Rs 2.5 lakhs compensation that was fixed basis her life expectancy and a bare minimum notional income.

The family went on to appeal to the Supreme Court and the SC bench of justices Kant and Viswanathan has made some of the most powerful observations in this case. Acknowledging a homemaker’s time and effort in running a home, the bench increased the compensation to Rs 6 lakhs maintaining that a homemaker’s income is difficult to compute in monetary terms and should not be considered less significant to that of an earning member.

Did we need the Supreme Court to say this?

Why are we as a society so dismissive of a woman’s contribution in running a home and nurturing a family?

Whether a woman steps out of home to earn a living or works from home to earn a living the primary ownership of running a household has always been hers. This responsibility was all the more assumed if she did not have a source of income. Let us also not forget that in a patriarchal society many women even in today’s day and age are forbidden to be financially independent. There is this notion that a man’s income is enough, putting an unreasonable burden on men to be sole earning members.

This order by the Supreme Court will hopefully change the way homemakers are perceived and bring their contributions the needed and long overdue acknowledgment, respect and value.

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Lakshmi Padmanabhan

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