|
|
Join our struggle
|
| |
Padyatra by ENSS :
Marching for Justice and Dignity
of Life |
 To impress upon the government and policy makers the urgent need to address their issues, single women from across Himachal, will undertake a three- day padyatra from Arki to Shimla on April 1st - 3rd, 2008.
This padyatra is being undertaken to draw the government’s attention to the demands of the ENSS and to sensitise the government to evolve a rights-based policy for single women. Rather than patronage, ENSS demands a state policy framed on principles of inclusion for single women across the state of Himachal Pradesh.
|
|
ENSS’s Key Demands are - |
- For the older single women, pension policy should be framed on the model of the existing policy in the neighbouring state of Haryana. Pensions should be paid every month without fail.
- Those single women who are fighting to secure their rights vis-à-vis their in- laws’ family, their cases must be referred to fast track courts.
Also, the spouses of all the single women who are not paying the maintenance amount as decreed by either the gram panchayats or the civil courts, should be legally challenged through fast track courts.
- The State should ensure that 2 acres of land is granted on a long-term lease (from government’s surplus land pool) to all the economically weak single women who are capable and eager to work as self-employed farmers
- Every single woman should be provided with health care facilities from the primary to the tertiary level, free of cost.
|
To organize this padyatra, ENSS would like to call upon individuals like you to make contributions and make this initiative a mass public movement.
5000 single-women, from various parts of Himachal Pradesh, are expected to participate in the padyatra. A personal contribution of Rs. 600/- from you will help us cover the costs of one participant of the padyatra (travel/ food/ administrative expenses).
It will also be an expression of your solidarity with this important cause. In this fight for an individual’s rights and dignity, we seek your support. |
| |
|
| |
SUTRA (The Society for Social Uplift Through Rural Action),
a Voluntary Action Group was established in 1977 with the support from SWRC, Tilonia.
SUTRA’s goal is to enable the establishment of Gender Just Governance. It continues to work with several national and international organisations on the issue of decentralized governance, reproductive health, gender-based economic development and issues of single women.
SUTRA, through its network of small voluntary organizations, works with village based Mahila Mandals and women representatives of Gram Panchayats spread across 7 districts of Himachal Pradesh. It also works on policy at advocacy issues at the state and national level |
| |
SUTRA is registered under Societies Act 1860 and with Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India to receive Foreign Funds. Donations to SUTRA are exempted from Income Tax under 80 G
Donations can be addressed to SUTRA on the following Bank Accounts:
For Donations in Indian currency-
Punjab National Bank, Jagjit Nagar, District Solan H.P.
Bank
Account No.: 2197000100018636
Bank Branch Code Neft No.: PULB 0219700
For donations in Foreign currency
Oriental Bank of Commerce, Jubbar, District Solan, H.P.
Bank Account No.: 02232010003190
Bank Branch Code Neft No.: OBC 0223 |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
Single Women's Right To Live With Dignity
|
 Champa, a resident of Dharampur Block, Solan was married at 9 and became a widow at 20. She had seven children, four of whom died young. Her three daughters are married, though one of them, Shakuntala- deserted by an abusive husband, now lives with Champa
Champa’s husband’s sudden death came as a great jolt to her. She had no savings or any source of income that could help fend for her little children. Her in-laws refused to give her a share in their family land. A desolate Champa however did not give up. She picked up odd jobs in other people’s houses and worked as hired help in others’ fields. She also joined SUTRA, an NGO working in her area, as a helper and gradually became an active member of the Ekal Nari Shakti Sangathan (ENSS)- an initiative started by the organization, in support of single women.
As her involvement with ENSS grew, Champa’s knowledge of what she was entitled to get as a widow also developed. Since she was enrolled in the BPL list, she managed to get a small plot of land and a widow’s pension of Rs. 200 per month from the government. Supplementing her meagre earnings by selling produce from her land helped her take care of her everyday needs, get her daughters married, re-construct her dilapidated house. Champa was also able to provide care and shelter to her deserted daughter.
Though an epitome of courage, little of this would have been possible for Champa without government aid and assistance. Today Champa is an inspiration not only for her own daughter, but for many such women- widowed and deserted- who are victimized and exploited. And even though initially Champa’s forthrightness had attracted criticism and mirth, today her village is proud of her as a woman who stood up to fight for her rights. |
| |
|
| |
|
Status of Single Women in Himachal Pradesh
|
|
 |
|
Regrettably, not many single women are as fortunate as Champa. Most of these women are unaware of that which is rightfully theirs’. And to add to it, government schemes and policies on support for single women are not well formulated and remain inaccessible to many in need of them. The fact is however, that amongst the marginalized population, the most susceptible and vulnerable to abuse and exploitation are single women in rural areas.
The data on Himachal Pradesh reveals that every seventh married woman is a single woman.
Table 1 gives us a district wise distribution of single women in the State. |
|
|
| |
No official statistics is available on the status of “deserted” women-this despite the fact that studies by independent organizations shows that the rate of desertion is very high in the State. Many rural women have been simply abandoned or “left” by their husbands, without any proper divorce proceedings.
Many women whose husbands have reportedly gone “missing” from respective government jobs (like the army) have also been rendered single and receive no support or aid from the Government. |
Single women are socially stigmatized and are condemned to live a life of dependency, bereft of any dignity.
The following are some of the common problems faced by single women in the State – |
- More often than not single women are neither given a share in property, nor a maintenance amount by their husband / in-law’s family.
- With no support and a family to feed- these women are reduced to poverty.
- Single women driven out of their husband’s/in-law’s house, returning back to their parental home are seen as an economic liability and lead a life of deprivation and dependency.
- In a patriarchal set up single women are most vulnerable to sexual exploitation and violence of all forms.
- Most single women have no legal documents certifying their separation or their status as single women and therefore are unable to pursuit any legal claims for support or maintenance.
- A few of these women who have pursued legal battles to claim their rights have become trapped in the tedium of law suits- eating away whatever little is left of their resources.
|
| While there are a few piece meal programmes, the Government has no clear cut policy for sustenance and support for single women. The approach of the government is more of patronage than right-based. |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
Solidarity of Single Women in Himachal Pradesh
|
In order to address the concerns and hardships facing single women in the State, in 2005, SUTRA with support from Ekal Naree Sangathan Rajasthan, initiated the formation of “Ekal Naree Shakti Sangathan” (ENSS), Himachal Pradesh.
ENSS is an association of single women that fights to secure the rights of single women to live with dignity and justice. Today 5,500 single women- divorced, deserted, unmarried (beyond a certain age) or those whose husbands have gone missing, are a part of ENSS across seven districts of Himachal Pradesh.
200 gram Panchayat members in the state, social activists and civil society organizations across the country have also emerged in support of their concerns.
ENSS has been working towards pressurising the government to frame policies and programmes keeping in mind the realities of single women in rural areas. It demands that the Government should enable single women to become economically self-sufficient so that they are able to support themselves and their families.
The organisation believes that by generating livelihood options, the State could help these women become active and tax paying members of the community instead of remaining a social and economic burden. |
| |
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
