HC: Housewives should not be treated as ‘unemployed’

Kolkata: Calcutta High Court, on Thursday, while passing an order related to a case of compensation for an accident, observed that housewives should not be treated as unemployed.

While making the observation, Justice Ajay Kumar Gupta also mentioned a judgement of the Supreme Court in 2008 where the apex court had explained that housewives cannot be treated as unemployed and they should get Rs 100 for each day as remuneration.

Lufta Begum, a resident of Kshirgram in East Burdwan died in a road accident in 2006. She was run over by a bus. The woman was admitted to a hospital where she later died. After Begum’s death, her family members approached the motor accident claim tribunal demanding Rs 6 lakh as compensation. The insurance company refused to pay the demanded amount and gave only about Rs 1.89 lakh as compensation.

The logic given by the company was that Begum was not an earner for her family so demanding such a big amount of money is baseless. On Thursday, the Calcutta High Court directed the insurance company to pay about Rs 4.51 lakh more to Begum’s immediate family members. The court also mentioned that the amount was calculated on the basis of a probable salary of Begum of Rs 3000 per month and interest to date.