I was wandering around the village. I saw women working in the fields and fields with rice, wheat, and vegetables. I felt a sense of pride in the farmer women who made it their daily routine to work and did their work without complaining to anyone.

How can women like me, who are not so much involved in domestic and care work while living in a dormitory, contemplate the unpaid care work and the work that has to be done continuously? But, have women been able to become self-reliant or earn some 'cash' from the products they grow as farmers? This is an important question. 

Have we 'considered' the health problems of our mothers, mothers-in-law, daughters-in-law, sisters-in-law, sisters-in-law, sisters-in-law, and sisters-in-law, who are suffering from back and waist pain, heavy menstrual bleeding, lower abdominal pain, or similar problems? How do male members, in particular, view such household chores? Do we just dismiss them by saying, 'There is magic in the food my mother makes,' 'My wife's hands are so sweet,' or do we ever ask, 'Would you like to take a break from the constant monotony of household work?'

If the daily life of the hill people is like the daily life of the mountain people, then these household and care work that started when they could hold their hands and feet are still done by women even after they have crossed the 70th spring of their lives. A mother goes to the forest to cut grass for her cows and buffaloes even when her knees are sensitive. Even when she falls while carrying a load of grass, when she reaches the hospital, I have seen her more worried about 'did the goats and buffaloes get to eat grass or not?' than about her injured life. Women take care of not only their children and family members, but also animals, trees and plants, and even the soil. 

While we are shouting slogans of equality and justice, have we applied ointment to the cracked hands of our mothers, sisters, and wives who are supporting the house as domestic workers? Or have we said, 'Today I will massage you with oil'? What would the situation of the family be if there were no female members who do menial, unproductive, and 'suffering' work? It is conceivable. 

Our mothers, who cook food during Shraddha, cook meat and sala during Dashain-Tihar, prepare food according to their own customs and are constantly involved in those tasks, have dedicated themselves as rice-cookers. There are societies that look at how diligently and efficiently someone has worked in any other profession, business, or politics, and the respect and titles that those individuals receive are more common among men.

But, how much of the same ‘respect’ have women who do domestic work received? The value and importance of the work of women who make masaya or gundruk, make chana of various seasonal vegetables and provide for the rainy season or vegetable drought is not heard anywhere. What is the value and importance of the work of business women who have started selling and distributing such domestic products? We do not examine that either. Only a few insignificant domestic producers can be seen and heard. 

In the world, childcare, elderly care, and household work are viewed from a gender perspective. Under traditional and patriarchal concepts, care work is considered ‘women’s work’. Having to engage in such care work inevitably limits women’s education, economic opportunities and earning capacity.

While men’s earning role is becoming more and more consolidated. Women are accustomed to care work, there is also a gender gap in wages. Women who are engaged in paid care work are not able to earn fifteen to twenty thousand rupees per month even though they work in three or four homes daily. 

Globally, women and girls spend 2.5 times more hours a day on unpaid care work than men. This inequality prevents women and girls from fully realizing their rights and opportunities throughout their lives. The most marginalized women, women living in poverty and women from minority groups bear the largest share of unpaid care work. According to one statistic, 80 percent of paid domestic workers in the world are women. 

Care and domestic work is a fundamental human rights issue. Aren't gender inequality, poverty and unemployment increasing when domestic care is left entirely to women? The state should examine this issue from the policy-making level.

Women, who are naturally responsible for caring for children from the time they are conceived, are as capable as men. They should be given additional services, but in reality, the mentality that 'this is women's responsibility, they have to endure it' may have crept into men's minds. The main context is 'nature' and 'nurture'. 

Even if some men appear to be gender-conscious and do the care work that women have been doing for ages, they forget to realize that they are doing it with their responsibility and equality. They say, I have helped my wife, mother or sister by doing such and such work. Famous comedian Harivansh Acharya is a conscious citizen.

He also proudly told in an interview in a media that 'I always wash the plate I ate on'. His intention was that if at least one person eats in the kitchen and washes at least one plate, the burden on women will be reduced, even if only a little.

Since men do not consider their household or care work to be ‘my own work’, they do not think that their work ‘has to be perfect’. Interrupting the Acharya, his wife reveals that ‘I have to repeat what he does’, which also reflects the enthusiasm and commitment of men towards household work.

The way women have become active in household and care work in a systematic manner, it has become a practice of work-transfer for hundreds of years. Similarly, if men also join hands in household and care work with passion and a sense of responsibility, it will definitely help in gender balance. Otherwise, the continuity of ‘mother does the housework or father goes to work’, which is mentioned with pictures in our textbooks, will always remain in society.

If we look at the professions outside the home, men have made themselves competent in jobs such as cooks, room boys, waiters, etc. Men who can 'fit' in any profession that brings them a salary and is also recognized by society are certainly not inferior to men in household and care work. Most men do not want to make themselves skilled in household care work at the family level, except for a few insignificant men.

Our society does not 'prefer' men to do household work. If a man easily gets involved in family work, then our father, mother, wife, and sisters feel uncomfortable. They feel that if a son gets involved in household work like this, his external relationships will deteriorate. Our learning, practice, and social values ​​also make men feel inferior when they go to the kitchen to cook food and wash the dishes. 

To enhance women's economic, social, political and professional mobility, it is necessary to establish institutions that address informal and unpaid care work, including community childcare centers, women's discussion and study centers. Social security programs can also be implemented by linking care work to employment.