Skip to main content

Delhi's 90% sites 'ignore' law on creches at workplace. Will Apex Court note?

By Dr Aparna*
The Supreme Court of India, in all its wisdom, quizzed the mothers of Shaheen Bagh with the query: Can a four-month old decide to participate in a protest? Who will listen to four-month olds? A four month old cannot protest, as the Supreme Court has noted. A four-month old can't be a construction worker either. And its absolutely true -- a four-month old can't speak, can't protest.
For, if a baby could, the four-month old might complain to the Supreme Court that despite the law for creches at workplace, the law is unimplemented in 90% sites in the national capital itself. The baby would complain that construction worker mothers lay down four-month olds right within construction sites in all months of the year!
And the four-month old might complain on how babies are forced by governments to live under the open air. Delhi's homeless mothers -- they don't bother! Can a four-month old be out exposed to the vagaries of the weather and sleep on streets? Or, can a four-month old accompany the mother to sleep in those shelters under battered quilts and the breath of tens of others around the little babies?
The governments have failed to give a right to at least a one room home to every family even 72 years since 1947. But the four-month old can't protest. The baby can't complain to the Supreme Court either.
A four-month old surely cannot protest. If babies could, they would complain about governments and courts, to the Supreme Court. They take no action against the powerful polluters who dirty Delhi's air and kill the cells of the lungs of babies.
Who will protest the patriarchy inlaid in the questioning of why a four-month old baby accompanies a mother to a protest?
They would reject their mothers' submissions that they are too poor to exercise the option of leaving Delhi or even using air cleaners. They would refuse to stay in a Delhi where governments or courts give a free hand to real estate owners and car owners and cause irreversible lung damages in little babies.
A four-month old baby cannot even refuse to be shoved into a detention camp along with the mother. Four-month olds cannot even refuse to be labelled 'suspicious citizens' if their parents are unable to prove where they were born. The Supreme Court must reckon, four-month olds can't even protest then, that is why all this is has been on in Assam.
Who will protest the patriarchy inlaid in the questioning of why a four-month old baby accompanies a mother to a protest? Why don't they question the unequal economic conditions under which four-month old babies live and grow up? A woman then has no right to work, no right to protest, just because she has no alternative but to carry her baby along?
The Supreme Court is entertaining such a question in the second decade of the 21st century. Women's fight against denial to them of support structures by society and against stifling their exercising of democratic rights by demagogic and patriarchal discourse, has a long way to go.
Much gratitude to the Supreme Court for pushing us to realize this. We do get the message, only the materially well-endowed women with money to pay for support structures may protest. Only limitedly though, as four-month olds must be breast fed. And four-month olds cannot protest.
---
*National President, Indian Federation of Trade Unions

Comments

TRENDING

Wave of disappearances sparks human rights fears for activists in Delhi

By Harsh Thakor*  A philosophy student from Zakir Hussain College, Delhi University, and an activist associated with Nazariya magazine, Rudra, has been reported missing since the morning of July 19, 2025. This disappearance adds to a growing concern among human rights advocates regarding the escalating number of detentions and disappearances of activists in Delhi.

How community leaders overcome obstacles to protect forests and pastures in remote villages

By Bharat Dogra  Dheera Ram Kapaya grew up in such poverty that, unable to attend school himself, he would carry another boy’s heavy school bag for five kilometers just to get a scoop of daliya (porridge). When he was finally able to attend school, he had to leave after class five to join other adolescent workers. However, as soon as opportunities arose, he involved himself in community efforts—promoting forest protection, adult literacy, and other constructive initiatives. His hidden talent for writing emerged during this time, and he became known for the songs and street play scripts he created to promote forest conservation, discourage child marriages, and support other social reforms.

‘Act of war on agriculture’: Aruna Rodrigues slams GM crop expansion and regulatory apathy

By Rosamma Thomas*  Expressing appreciation to the Union Agriculture Minister for inviting suggestions from farmers and concerned citizens on the sharp decline in cotton crop productivity, Aruna Rodrigues—lead petitioner in the Supreme Court case ongoing since 2005 that seeks a moratorium on genetically modified (GM) crops—wrote to Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on July 14, 2025, stating that conflicts of interest have infiltrated India’s regulatory system like a spreading cancer, including within the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR).

The GMO illusion: Three decades of hype, harm, and false hope

By Sridhar Radhakrishnan  Three decades of hype, billions of dollars spent, and still no miracle crop. It's time to abandon the GMO biotech fairy tale and return to the soil, the seed, and the farmer. “Trust us,” they said. “GMOs will feed the world.” Picture a world where there is plenty of food, no hunger, fields grow without chemical pesticides, children are saved from malnutrition, and people live healthily.

Sandra Gonzalez Sanabria: An inspiring life from Colombia’s Amazonian valley

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  In the village of Héctor Ramírez, known as Agua Bonita, in La Montañita, Caquetá, Colombia, a vision of peace and renewal is unfolding. In the pre-2016 period, this would have been nearly impossible for outsiders to visit, as it was the epicenter of violent resistance against state oppression. However, after the Peace Accord was signed between the Colombian government and former revolutionaries—marking the end of a 70-year insurgency that claimed over 400,000 lives until 2025, including civilians, rebel fighters, and security personnel—things began to change. Visiting Agua Bonita during the Global Land Forum in Bogotá revealed a village of hope and resilience. Former FARC revolutionaries have settled here and transformed the village into a center of peace and aspiration.

Overriding India's constitutional sovereignty? Citizens urge PM to reject WHO IHR amendments

By A Representative   A group of concerned Indian citizens, including medical professionals and activists, has sent an urgent appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to reject proposed amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) before the ratification deadline of July 19, 2025. 

Indigenous Karen activist calls for global solidarity amid continued struggles in Burma

By A Representative   At the International Festival for People’s Rights and Struggles (IFPRS), Naw Paw Pree, an Indigenous Karen activist from the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG), shared her experiences of oppression, resilience, and hope. Organized with the support of the International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL), the event brought together Indigenous and marginalized communities from across the globe, offering a rare safe space for shared learning, solidarity, and expression.

Activists allege abduction and torture by Delhi Police Special Cell in missing person probe

By A Representative   A press statement released today by the Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) alleges that several student and social activists have been abducted, illegally detained, and subjected to torture by the Delhi Police Special Cell. The CASR claims these actions are linked to an investigation into the disappearance of Vallika Varshri, an editorial team member of 'Nazariya' magazine.

India’s zero-emission, eco-friendly energy strategies have a long way to go, despite impressive progress

By N.S. Venkataraman*   The recent report released by OPEC’s World Oil Outlook 2025 has predicted that by the year 2050, crude oil would replace coal as India’s key energy source. Clearly, OPEC expects that India’s dependence on fossil fuels for energy will continue to remain high in one form or another.