Empower the widows and help them live a secure life

In India, the experience of losing one’s spouse is, overwhelmingly, a female experience. Further, the consequences of losing one’s spouse are very different for men and women. Even in the older age groups, only a small minority of men are widowed, while a large majority of women experience that predicament. The main reason for this gender gap in the incidence of widowhood is a much higher rate of remarriage among widowed men, compared with widowed women.

Women, who form 48.9 % (587 million) of India’s 1.2 billion populations is particularly relevant to a demographic that is usually not accorded honor: 71.4 million single women, or 12% of the female population.There was a 39% increase in the number of single women in India, the numbers rising from 51.2 million in 2001 to 71.4 million in 2011, according to census data. This includes widows, divorcees and unmarried women, and those deserted by husbands.

AJMAL FOUNDATION provides financial assistance to the widows along with opportunities of livelihood. Those widows, who have no regular source of income and are living in poor and destitute conditions are selected for assistance.Deprived of the basic amenities of life, this project will rehabilitate those who are striving for their sustainability and also assist them to lead their lives in a proper way.

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Why is it so urgent?

The widow crisis affects families in ways that have a direct physical impact on their lives as well as their children. AJMAL FOUNDATION takes the initiative to help them for the following reasons:

Poverty: Many widows come across economic hardship during their life. They are bound to send their children out to work to earn income instead of sending them to school for education. Employment opportunities for windows are very low especially because of the limitations on mobility and gender division of labour. So the widows have to adjust with in-law’s family remaining engaged with-domestic chores and child rearing activities or to live with and adult son.

Employment Restrictions: Widows in general face well known restrictions on employment opportunities, relating, inter alia, to the gender division of labor. Aside from these general restrictions, widows face specific difficulties in seeking gainful employment opportunities. These include: lack of access to indivisible productive assets owned by the deceased husband’s family (e g, wells, ploughs and bullocks); frequent absence of a literate member in the household; limited access to institutional credit; and, particularly in the case of widows with young children, the burden of domestic work.

Social Isolation: The well-being of widows is not just a question of economic security, but also one of dignity, self-respect and participation in society. Many widows suffer from different forms of social isolation, psychological abuse or emotional distress.

Inheritance Rights: Majority Windows are deprived of their inheritance rights. If a widow has adult sons, she may enjoy it but if she is child less or has only daughters she actually faces problems. Patrilocal residence and patrilineal inheritance is fundamental source of the poverty and marginalization of Indian widows, when the husband dies, a widow has no freedom to “return” to the parental home or to her brothers. She remains in her husband’s village whether or not her owned land or property.

How will we do it?

AJMAL FOUNDATION receives applications from widows from across the state of Assam and outside. On confirmation of fund and number of beneficiaries, our organization shortlists the needy widows on the basis of their economic status. Thereafter, the beneficiaries are called along with their legal guardian in a suitable place and location and were briefed about the terms and conditions of the project. Thereafter the cash distribution program is conducted in the presence of the Honorable Trustees of AJMAL FOUNDATION. Apart from cash distribution, certain employment generation schemes like livestock rearing, tailoring, sewing machine distribution etc. are organized too. Time to time follow up of the progress of the widows is monitored by the implementing agency.

Project Evaluation

Ajmal Foundation will depute a Project coordinator, who will support, guide and monitor the beneficiaries. His major job responsibilities will also include the provision of basic information of taking care of the funds received and making it into a self sustaining initiative. They will also be provided the knowledge of marketing and managing the business, keeping record of things, book keeping and the importance of savings (for future necessities). The coordinators will track each and every individual’s progress of the venture on a regular basis. They will also maintain a record of the beneficiaries’ performance on a monthly basis at least for a period of one year for the growth and development of the beneficiary with the livelihood support given.

What have we done in the past?

Ajmal Foundation already accomplished a number of similar projects from its own funds as well as implementing Government projects. We have huge experience in the field and have sufficient skilled manpower to implement the project. The project ‘Learn and Earn’ was implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India; where four hundred and fifty beneficiaries were trained on tailoring. Similarly, one hundred and fifty beneficiaries were trained on tailoring; the projects being done in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE) and National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM) respectively. Three hundred and eighty seven widows benefitted from the project ‘Tailoring Scheme’ implanted by AJMAL FOUNDATION. Apart from these, a total number of two hundred and sixty widows were given monetary support for running their family.

 
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