PANAJI
According to recent census details of which were recently released, women in Goa belonging to other workers workforce have been known to walk and use the bus to travel to their work place rather than by two and four-wheelers.
The all India figure shows that of the 200 million other workers in India, 137 million commute to work while 63 million do not travel at all and live close to their workplaces.
The statistics were analysed at a Data dissemination workshop held in the city on Tuesday. Ranjit George Amballor, associate professor at the Government College, Quepem, said the Goa figures point to a situation where the relative share of women workers decreased when there was an increase in the distance required to commute.
“In smaller rural areas, women travel by bus and on foot while they preferred using buses in urban areas. The figures, however, also point to many women travelling long distances to get to their place of work,” he said.
According to the census data, based on gender disparity, in rural areas, 43.3 per cent people (the majority being female) travelled on foot, 65.8 per cent (majority being male) used bicycles, 51.5 per cent (majority being male) travelled to work places in cars and other four wheelers and 46.7 per cent (majority being female) used buses.
In urban areas, 16.2 per cent (majority being female) travelled to their work places on foot while 57.8 per cent (majority being male) used bicycles, 41.5 per cent (majority being male) travelled by cars and 55.9 per cent (majority being female) used buses.
Amballor also pointed to the possibility of women staying closer to their work places compared to men as 28 per cent females were not travelling to work at all, rather than the 21 per cent males.
Considering the majority were either walking to work or using bicycles, Amballor also pointed to the possibility of improving pedestrian walk ways and creating an increased interest in respecting their rights as well as that of cyclists.
