On the occasion of the 100th International Women’s Day, the state cabinet has jolted working women. A decision was taken to amend the Factories Act, 1948, to increase the minimum number of working hours each day from eight to 10. Nearly 90% of those employed in the state’s manufacturing units are women, and this decision comes as a rude shock.

Ironically, the origins of International Women’s Day lie in struggles for shorter hours at work, better pay and voting rights. About 15,000 women marched through the city of New York in 1908, demanding these basic rights. Hundred years later, it appears that the state government is taking a few steps backwards.

An estimated 3.5 crore people work in the unorganised sector. Over 90% of this work force is made up of women, says Varalakshmi S, state secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU). “This move will have a bad impact on society itself. If a woman is expected to spend two more hours at work, she will have lesser time to give to her children, her home. In a society like ours, where the care of children, cooking and caring for the household remain within the domain of women, this could have a deleterious impact on larger society,” she says.

In the city, where one travels long distances to reach the work place, longer hours could mean pushing the women to the edge, says Ranjana Nirula, all-India treasurer of CITU. Women employed in garment factories are already being pushed to work more than the prescribed hours to meet difficult daily targets. With this alteration, managements could be encouraged to inflate targets, without being obliged to enhance salaries, she says.

Vimala KS of Akhila Bharata Janavadi Mahila Sanghatane calls the government’s move inhuman. “On the one hand, they plan celebrations for Women’s Day. On the other, they take away the very rights that lend significance to the day. This is an insult to the women’s movement,” she says.