Prakash Baral

Kumari BK, a local of Baglung, has been working as a mason for the past decade and a half. She has been doing a risky job—plastering the high walls and painting multi-storey buildings.

BK does all the work, shoulder to shoulder with the male masons. But at the end of the day, male masons get up to Rs1,500 per day. She is paid much lower wages, nearly three times her male counterparts—about Rs550.

BK, 50, worked as a labourer for a decade before becoming a mason. But she hasn’t seen a rise in her wages just because she’s a female.

“Even an unskilled male worker gets double the wages than me,” lamented BK.

She accused the contractors of the construction company for practising gender-based discrimination on pay.

On different occasions, she has attempted to protest by uniting her fellow female workers to draw the attention of the contractor. But to no avail.

“Though I am more skilful and experienced in the work, my wage isn’t any different from the low-skilled workers,” said BK, who is the sole breadwinner of her family. “If I was a male, I would have made up to Rs2,000 a day.”

In the construction sector, the pay depends upon the level of skill of an individual. Skilled male workers generally earn double the unskilled labourers.

However, this rule doesn’t apply to females who earn a flat Rs550 to Rs600, regardless of their skill or dedication.

Parbati BK from Baanpa-1 has a similar story. Her husband, too, is in the construction sector.

She has been a mason for the last three years. Before that, she used to carry sand and stones to the construction sites.

The quality of her work has improved, but her wages haven’t.

“I do the same work as the men do, but I don't know why the pay is different,” said the 27-year-old Parbati.

“When I demanded fair pay from the contractor, he threatened to fire me from the job.”

Due to fears of losing her job, Parbati was compelled to work for whatever the contractor offered.

The Baglung Municipality has set a minimum daily wage of Rs1,200 for skilled workers and Rs620 for semi-skilled workers.

The smaller contractors, however, have not been complying with the rule.

On Wednesday, on the occasion of International Women's Day, many workers complained about gender-based discrimination, particularly in wages.

Similarly, the female workers also complained that not only are they underpaid, the employers are also not providing them lunch and other basic amenities.

Ram Raj Gurung, president of the Federation of Contractor's Association of Nepal, Baglung, admitted the huge gap in pay between the male and female workers.

He, however, said it is the unlicensed contractors who have been cheating the female workers. “We don’t see such issues with the genuine contractors,” said Gurung. “This problem should be eliminated.”

He suggested that skilled workers can demand up to Rs2,000 per day because there is a scarcity of skilled workers in the district.

Many petty contractors are active in the construction sector. They also get the projects subcontracted by large contractors.

Ishwar Thakur Paudel, president of the Nepal Trade Union Congress in Baglung, said the government needs to keep a close eye on the contractors, who are underpaying their women workers.

“If a couple of contractors are punished, every contractor will start paying female workers their fair wages,” added Paudel.

The Global Gender Gap Report 2022 said that among the eight regions covered in the report, South Asia ranks the lowest, with only 62.3 percent of the gender gap closed in 2022. This lack of progress since the last edition extends the wait to close the gender gap to 197 years due to a broad stagnation in gender parity scores across most countries in the region.

Bangladesh and Nepal lead regional performance with more than 69 percent of their gender gaps closed.

The report said that gender gaps in the workforce are driven and affected by many factors, including long-standing structural barriers, socio-economic and technological transformation as well as economic shocks.

More women have been moving into paid work and, increasingly, leadership positions. Yet, globally, societal expectations and employer policies and the availability of care continue to play an important role in the choice of educational tracks and career trajectories, the report added.

Published on: 10 March 2023 | The Kathmandu Post