'Men shouldn't tailor clothes of women, cut their hair', proposes UP panel

The Uttar Pradesh State Women Commission has proposed that men should not take womens measurements and tailor their clothes they should not cut a womans hair or train them in the gym either these are some of the proposals to protect women from bad touch and stymie the ill intentions of men reported the PTIThe suggestions which includes installing CCTVs in gyms cloth stores and coaching centres and having a woman for security in school buses followed a meeting held on October 28According to the PTI the Uttar Pradesh State Women Commission said it has sent letters on the guidelines which seem to be an attempt to segregate men and women in public spaces to improve womens safety to all district magistrates in the state to ensure compliance on the matterThere have been increasing complaints of bad touch by male trainers in gyms and in womens boutiques where tailors who take measurements are mostly male Babita Chauhan chairperson of the UP womens body told PTIWhat we are saying is that it isnt a problem if the tailor is male but only women should take measurements Chauhan saidIn a press note the womens panel proposed that womens gyms and yoga centres should only have female trainers The gym and the trainers should be verified while CCTV and DVRs at the establishments should mandatorily be in working condition it said as per the PTIIt said boutiques should have a female tailor to take womens measurements for clothes with a functioning CCTV at the store Shops selling womens clothes are required to have female employees it saidIt is mandatory to have a female dance teacher at drama centres and a female security guard or teacher in school buses the guidelines addedBabita Chauhan said We are aware that trained women will have to be employed at all these places and this might take some time However it would also help employ more women the Uttar Pradesh womens commission chairperson added the news agency reported on FridayMeanwhile Himani Agarwal a member of the commission said that the proposal floated by Babita Chauhan on October 28 was accepted by the panelExplaining the rationale behind the proposal Himani Agarwal said that the involvement of men in such professions can lead to women getting molestedThey men try to indulge in bad touchThe intention of some of the men is also not good she said before adding not that all men have bad intentions as per the PTIHimani Agarwal added that it is just a proposal as of now and the womens commission will subsequently request the state government to make laws on itThe proposal has drawn mixed reactions with Samajwadi Party MLA Ragini Sonkar saying it should be left to individuals to decide which store or gym they want to go toI dont think this is a justified decision as it should be an individual choice on whether one prefers a male or a female to attend to them It is a matter of choice said the MLA from Machhlishahr in Jaunpur district the PTI reportedWe are okay with the proposal about womens presence being mandatory at shops selling womens garments and at tailoring shops But then ultimately it boils down to individual choice and this cant be limited to a particular sex Sonkar saidAccording to the PTI social workers Veena Sharma and Mohsina Choudhary welcomed the proposal saying there are many complaints of women being harassed while giving measurements at tailor shops They said that the proposal should be lawVeena Sharma is the Muzaffarnagar district coordinator of Mission Shakti a government women empowerment initiative while Choudhary was earlier a member of the Child Welfare Board in the district the PTI reportedHead of Kiran Sewa Samaj Uthan committee Ravita Dhagne in Muzaffarnagar also agreed with themSupriya Kohli who runs a boutique at Lucknows Prag Narain Road said Usually there arent any objections on the issue of who is taking measurements but we do have women to take measurements if the client demands it There is nothing wrong with the move the news agency reportedwith PTI inputs