Women in Mewat’s Fields Battle Anemia and Heatwave

This report from Mewat, Haryana, documents how extreme heat compounds the challenges of anaemia, food deprivation, and reproductive health among women agricultural labourers. Through the experiences of Satram, Miskena, Dharamwati, and Anita, the article traces the physical costs of sustaining farm work under conditions of poverty and inadequate support. Twenty-two-year-old Satram lost consciousness while working in 42°C heat and required a life-saving blood transfusion; Dharamwati, 39, continues to work despite dangerously low haemoglobin levels, fever, and body aches. Miskena, 35, is a mother of four and works seven to eight hours under the sun while breastfeeding her nine-month-old child. Anemia is endemic to the women farmers in Mewat and the report details the deprivation underpinning these health crises: women may begin the day with lemon water or with roti soaked in tea, work without a lunch break, and return home to meagre meals. Their earnings come from arduous agricultural labour, sometimes paid through a small share of the crop. As men migrate for work in transport and construction, women end up shouldering farming in a region increasingly affected by heat and water scarcity.

The article also throws light on how menstrual and reproductive health is impacted for women engaged in agricultural labour. Water scarcity makes menstrual hygiene difficult, while stigma and limited access to contraception leave women bearing much of the burden of family planning. Chronic malnutrition leads to highly irregular menstrual cycles; these reproductive challenges are further exacerbated by extreme heat, which the article contends, often leads to hormonal disruptions. By associating individual health with climate stress and gaps in public health response, the report reveals that women agricultural workers’ physiological vulnerability is a result of intersecting inequalities in access to food, work, water, and healthcare.