An Uphill Task

 

 

Marginalised and mal-treated single women of Himachal Pradesh come together to march to Shimla to submit a charter of demands to Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal in a unique three-day padyatra.

They braved rain and hail, camping in the open under shamianas and when their food was washed away by the spring rain, they went without a meal but they moved on from the remote villages of Himachal Pradesh shouting slogans and singing songs all the way to the capital of the state, Shimla, to present their demands to the Chief Minister, Prem Kumar Dhumal, on April 3, 2008. And it was a moment of victory when the Chief Minister took the memorandum personally and accepted at least a couple of their demands on the spot.

It was indeed a unique three-day padyatra, across the 30 km from Dhami to Shimla, by nearly 3000 women who have enjoyed marginal status in the society and have been neglected and exploited to the point that they were forced to turn to each other for help. It is heartening that what started as a scattered coming out of a woman or two has now turned into a tide that will not turn back. The single women include widows, divorcees and the deserted and unmarried ones above the age of 40.

The figures are telling. There are as many as 2.50 lakh single women in Himachal Pradesh, every seventh one being a widow. As compared to 14.38 lakh married women, there are 2.29 lakh widows while the number of divorcees is 8,336 and that of single women above the age of 40, is 7,267.

Nirmal Chandel, state-level coordinator of the Ekal Nari Shakti Sangathan (ENSS), says: “What was remarkable about this padyatra was the fact that women activists who participated included those owing allegiance to the Congress as well as the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). The solidarity of single women cuts across ideological boundaries. However, we were disappointed when no party raised our issues in the winter or in the budget sessions of the Vidhan Sabha. Therefore, we decided to march in protest.” The women had to wait for four hours in the rain, determined not to leave until the Chief Minister came to take their charter of demands. Finally, he did come out to announce that all single women would be given free medical treatment and subsidised ration facility. A certificate from the village pradhan will be enough for such women to get a ration card in their name. He said that all pending pension cases of widows would be disposed of quickly.

The organisation of single women in the state was only three years old when the Society for Uplift Through Rural Action (SUTRA), with support from Ekal Naree Sangathan Rajasthan, initiated the formation of Ekal Naree Shakti Sangathan (ENSS), Himachal Pradesh. Today, over 6000 single women – divorced, deserted, unmarried (beyond a certain age) or those whose husbands have gone missing – are a part of the ENSS across seven districts. Over 200 Gram Panchayat members in the state, social activists and civil society organisations across the country have emerged in support of their concerns.

Subhash Medhnapurkar, director, SUTRA, says: “It is crucial is that these women get a share in the property which is denied to them. The issue of land rights for tribal women in the state would require constitutional amendment but while the law entitles non-tribal women to get a share in the parental as well as husband’s property, it seldom happens in practice.” However, the single women of this hill state have made their presence felt and Kishwar Shirali, an activist who came with the 300 women from Kangra for the padyatra, says: “No one concedes demands at once. The struggle is still on and we will not rest until all our demands are met.”

The other demands of the women are reframing of the pension policy, family courts to secure their rights from the husband or his relatives and two acres of land to all the economically weak single women from the government’s surplus pool.