Even in places like Similipal women have been deployed in various range offices and have to undergo various hardships even with routine life with no contact with the 'civilised world' for months. I agree with Laxminarayan, that their effort is without doubt commendable, but in the end is it worth it for them? It is employment for sure, but there are lots of factors such as proper food, hygiene, shelter etc that come into play.
In my last visit to Similipal, we actually had to pick up 2 women in our vehicle at 11pm in the core area near Upper Barahkamuda range, who had been walking for 12kms on foot with just a torch to reach the range office. Such is the case there. I ask a question with no gender bias as such but is it really a way to go?
With people like Swarnalata, it is encouraging to know, but is that the case everywhere?