Labour and Employment Minister Bhupender Yadav today hosted a health and nutrition check-up camp for women workers in brick kilns and the beedi industry for early detection of any major occupational diseases among them.
The camp was assisted by the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) on the occasion of International Women’s Day.
To promote preventive healthcare, health supplements and Ayush Kits were distributed among 20 women beedi workers from Ajmer, 22 women beedi workers from Uttar Pradesh and 26 women brick kiln workers from Haryana.
The participants will be continuously monitored for the next six months. The initiative will facilitate in achieving optimum health of the working women for improving overall productivity. During the camp, health profile cards were made for the participants.
Yadav said women workers of the unorganized sector were exposed to hazardous work environments and prone to various occupational diseases and many macros and micronutrients deficiencies.
Women workers of Brick Kiln Industries and Beedi Industries are much more prone to iron deficiencies and hence become Anaemic in due course. Anaemia is a major health concern in India, especially among women of lower socioeconomic strata who is at higher risk of being anaemic, he said.
While acknowledging efforts put in by the Ministry of Labour & Employment, Women and Child Minister Smriti Zubin Irani spoke about the work by her Ministry.
She said that collaboration between the two Ministries can solve problems of the women workforce of the country. She enumerated many women-centric flagship schemes of the Government brought to alleviate the problems faced by women workers.
She supported the idea of collaboration with ESIC for extending help to women workers of the unorganized sector through the ‘One Stop Centre’ Scheme which has been implemented in 704 districts throughout the country.
Irani urged for formulating policies around the idea of ‘Equal Pay for Equal Work’.