NFSW bats for rural single women

Neetu was working in the fields one day when her husband and his family gathered together and began to physically assault her. She reached out to the village panchayat for help and they said, “You need to accept these small things. Women suffer more than this.” Neetu decided to leave her husband, and asked for his help to take care of their daughters.

“He refused to accept them as his own children, threatening to cut off my ears,” she says. She now lives with her parents and hopes to become a teacher.  

Neetu is in a better position than most women in rural areas because she is qualified to teach. Marriages in India are sacrosanct, because socially and economically, marriages are a construct that not only define women, but also protect them. When marriages break down, or when a woman chooses to not marry, especially in the rural areas, it is not surprising that state schemes do not come to their aid.  

Like in the case of Seeta Devi from Almora, who returned to her maternal home, within a year of her marriage because her husband was a drunk who’d physically abuse her. He also suffered from a mental condition which was hidden from Seeta and her family before marriage. Seeta’s then two month old son is now in Class IX. Seeta works as a daily wage labourer and takes care of her parents and son.

The Uttarakhand Chapter of the National Forum advised her to seek help under the state pension scheme. She applied six months ago, but nothing has happened yet.

Over 130 members of the National Forum of Single Women (NFSW)from 14 different states in India met in the Capital last week to demand changes which included a desirable pension for women who have been abandoned by their husbands with children to fend for; or women who have never been married. “There’s the concept of pati-tyag, in rural areas where women are increasingly being abandoned by husbands for younger wives,” says Parul Chaudhary of the National Forum. “These women, don’t receive social benefits or schemes and usually raise children without a steady income. Our demand for a pension scheme to be drawn up for them.”  

In Uttarakhand, if a woman’s husband remains absconding for over a year, she can approach local authorities to sign an affidavit that will allow her to draw over Rs1000 every month. In Rajasthan,  women can approach local authorities if their husbands have been away for over three years and avail Rs500 per month. The scheme also allows them to withdraw a yearly bonus of Rs3000 for school supplies per child, for up to three children.  

“Marriages are also dissolved in the presence of village elders who dictate the terms of the separation,” says Parul. The forum also demands women be made legal heir in any land or property the husband owns. “Only a woman with a roof over her head has dignity,” says Nirmala Chandel, president of the forum.

THEIR DEMANDS

The National Forum for Single Women’s Rights was launched in 2009 and has over 1,23,000 members.  

a. The Women’s Reservation Bill be passed so that there is 33% reservation for women in all the bodies of the government.  

b. A monthly pension of Rs 2000 for every woman either separated from her husband, widowed, or who never married.  

c. A system single women can access all developmental government schemes in one place.  

d. Investigation into the rising cases of men abandoning their wives and refusing to take care of their families.  

TALKING NUMBERS

As per the 2011 census, there are over 5,05,09,941 single women — widows, separated, divorced and those who never married — in the country. The Census data also reveals that while only 13.2% of all households in the country are headed by women, among single people households, the percentage goes up to over 57.6%.

Which means that 59,36,636 women live alone, and many are senior citizens. Literacy rates for women over age 35 are dismal, which means that they lack formal education and marketable skills, thereby making single women a large but extremely vulnerable group open to violence, abuse, discrimination and exploitation.