Disparity in curfew timings for boys and girls in colleges is affecting their academics. In view of this, two girls are on the verge of submitting a 30-page report to NCW and HRD Ministry.
Disparity in curfew timings for boys and girls in colleges is affecting their academics. In view of this, two girls are on the verge of submitting a 30-page report to NCW and HRD Ministry.
At a time when the lack of gender equality is considered a burning social issue, women from various professions are voicing disparity related woes. College girls face disparity in the form of stricter hostel rules compared to their male counterparts.
Apart from the rules curtailing their academic prospects, the girls also feel that the quality of their lives is being affected. Miffed by one such incident, Vandana Sudha Venkatesh, a law graduate and Bhargavi Suryanarayan, a student from IIT-M, have undertaken an initiative through which they hope to propose solutions to this issue. After conducting an extensive survey, this duo has worked on a comprehensive 30-page report that they’re planning to send to the National Commission for Women and the Ministry of Human Resouuce Development.
“Though this is an issue which has been in existence for long, my friend Bhargavi— who is from one of the rare colleges which don’t have curfew for women — was shocked at the disparity she saw at some recent college cultural fests. For boys the curfew was 9.30 pm and for girls it was as early as 6.30 pm,” starts Vandana. This prompted the IIT student to post her experience on Facebook. Based on responses from hostelites all over Tamil Nadu, they concluded that as many as 75 girls were in consultation with doctors for treating mental depression caused due to this system.
When queried about the difficulties the girls faced from this curfew system, Bhargavi has many points to highlight — “As most of the colleges still consider students as children, they become extra cautious, and it affects us in many ways. Academic progress is severely curtailed; boys get to attend GRE, GMAT and CAT classes later than six pm but girls don’t get the same liberty. Further, even access to libraries and laboratories is restricted, even though they are open till late night,” she adds, “Not only this, girls don’t get any kind of recreation. Imagine going to hostel right after classes end! Life becomes monotonous, and they don’t even get a chance to explore the city.”
As a result, they combined forces and approached the popular Delhi-based NGO organisation Pinjra Tod to help them with an initiative. Based on their suggestion, they have compiled a 30-page report, and are all set to send it to NCW. “We’re almost in the final stages of producing a complete report. We’ve provided real life examples, testimonies and solutions. If all goes well, we will take it to the HRD Ministry, and we’re hoping for a favourable response.”
