NATIONAL SEMINAR ON WIDOWS-NEGLECT AND SOCIAL ACTION

26TH FEBRUARY 1999

ADDRESS BY SMT. SONIA GANDHI

Smt. Mohini Giri

Justice Shri Krishna Iyer

Shri B P Singh

Friends

I am happy to be with you this afternoon. I believe the issue you are grappling with is as neglected as it is important for us to address. I would like to congratulate you on your lighting up a dark corner of our national life. It is a matter that calls for the most serious attention.

Widowhood is both a personal tragedy and a concern for society as a whole. With family support and counseling, widowed women can be helped in their personal sorrow and bereavement. Where society comes in the obligation to equip women with the educational, economic and social strength to look after themselves and their families when calamity strikes. This is where our collective efforts assume importance.

There was a time when widows were looked upon as bringers of misfortune. They were shunned and marginalised even by their families. The worst of these practices of the past are mercifully behind us. But there are segments of our society where prejudices persist. Nor can it be said that mindsets have fundamentally changed. While widows are treated with greater respect and sympathy than was once the case, such sympathy tends to be tinged with feelings that they and their children are an additional burden that must be borne. Changing societal mindsets is our first responsibility.

In doing so, the key lies in education. I believe the nation's highest priority should be primary education. Within that priority there is a special need to focus on the education of the girl-child.

There are States where astonishing progress has been made in this regard. Apart from the justly celebrated case of Kerala, in recent years at least three other states have recorded major advances in girls' education: Tamil Nadu, Goa and Himachal Pradesh. In the immediate past, Madhya Pradesh too has broken new ground. If they can do it, so can others. Resources are not a problem; education is primarily a question of political priorities and institutional mechanisms. I can assure you that we in the Congress will accord the required priority in education and demonstrate the needed political will. We plan to rely primarily on Panchayat Raj institutions and proven supplementary measures such as the mid-day school meal to universalize elementary education as quickly as possible.

Next comes employment opportunities. In the low wage, subsistence sector, women generally find work to do, but the higher one moves up the economic scale, the more difficult is the problem of employment for women. Moreover, the demands of housekeeping and raising a family do not always make it possible for women to go out to work. Widows with young children are doubly disadvantaged in this regard. Experience shows that taking work to the home rather than the woman worker to her place of work is as economical and, possibly, even more gainful. While schemes like TRYSEM, IRDP, and the two Rozgar Yojanas named after Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru have opened new vistas for women just above and below the poverty line, a more intensive, community-based drive will be required to deliberately open opportunities for economic advancement to specially disadvantaged categories like widows in need of support and sustenance.

My husband had conceived a scheme he outlined as the Indira Mahila Yojana, which would have complemented the panchayats. It was aimed at vesting in the women of the community the rights and the resources to enable them to determine their priorities for their welfare and that of their children. The intention is to meaningfully empower women through raising awareness and encourage self-reliance. A waterd-down version of the Yojana being half-heartedly implemented. Here again Congress Government would accord high priority to the full implementation of this programme which will open vast new opportunities of participatory development for widows and other women in need.

It is estimated that there are some 35 million widows in the country, many not yet grown to womanhood. They need to be integrated into their extended families and society. Yet, many suffer social ostracism, which leads to exploitation in many guises. We have to raise our voices gainst discrimination and oppressive cultural practices. No religion is discriminatory - only practices and interpretations are discriminatory. Gandhiji stressed that women must come out of their homes and take their place in ever increasing numbers in the building of our modern nationhood. With this in view, we must encourage widows to put aside their grief and sorrow and come into the mainstream.

My congratulations to the Guild of Service and the Joint Women's Programme on the initiative they have taken to organise this seminar. You will be preparing, I am sure a detailed plan of action. Of course, some points of any such programme will be addressed to Government and society in general. However, a significant segment of your recommendations will be addressed to yourselves and your sister organizations. We must move as fast as possible from words to action.

Thank you.