Rehabilitation of Widows of Vrindavan

The issue of destitute women, particularly widows, residing in Vrindavan area has been a subject of concern to the Commission.


The Commission considered this matter in its meeting held on 13.11.2000 and decided to obtain first hand information on their situation so as to explore the possibility of having a programme for the amelioration of their conditions. Accordingly, a high-level team from the NHRC comprising Member, Justice (Smt.) Sujata V. Manohar and the then Member, Shri Sudarshan Agarwal, made a visit to Vrindavan on 5 and 6 December 2000. Their Report, together with certain recommendations made by the Members, was subsequently placed before the Commission in a meeting held on 2.2.2001. As directed by the Commission, a copy of the Report was sent to the authorities concerned of the Government of Uttar Pradesh for necessary follow-up. In order to obtain authentic information regarding the needs of these women, a survey was also conducted at the instance of NHRC by Help Age India in March – April 2001.



Subsequently, a high-level meeting was held under the chairmanship of Justice Shri J.S. Verma, Hon’ble Chairperson, NHRC on 23 August 2001 which was attended amongst others, by the Secretary, Department of Women and Child Development, Government of India, the Secretary, WCDD, Government of Uttar Pradesh and the Resident Commissioner, Government of West Bengal.



The Action Taken Report received from the Director, Social Welfare as well as the District Magistrate, Mathura on the suggestions / recommendations made by the Commission provided the following information:



Proper residential accommodation has been provided to more than 400 widows in Vrindavan. Additional accommodation is being arranged through various means to accommodate all the destitute women residing in Vrindavan. At the instance of the Commission, the Central Government in the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Women and Child Development has sanctioned a sum of Rs. 3.3 crores for construction of a rehabilitation home with 1,000 bed capacity under the scheme of ‘Swadhar’.

The State Government is considering a proposal to enhance the pension. To ensure disbursement of pensions to the right beneficiaries, all the widows are being given pensions through cheques.

Necessary steps have been taken to ensure provision of proper and free medical facilities to the destitute women in Vrindavan.

Self-help groups for income generation have been set up to provide suitable training to women in small groups of 25 each for making candles, pickles, pappads, etc. During the training period, each trainee is given a stipend and after the completion of the training, they are helped in obtaining loans from banks to make them self-reliant. Vocational training is also imparted to some of these women in tailoring and block printing.

A special fund has been established to provide for proper cremation rites.

In Vrindavan, 12,622 ‘Above Poverty Line’ (APL) ration cards and 3,113 ‘Below Poverty Line’ (BPL) ration cards have been issued out of which 1,183 BPL ration cards have been provided to widows. The remaining widows will also be provided BPL ration cards shortly. Those widows who are not receiving pensions would be made beneficiaries under the Annapurna Scheme. Presently, there are 120 such beneficiaries.

A few LPG connections have been provided to widows residing in Government run Homes to initiate group cooking.

Recreational facilities have also been provided to the destitute women, viz, television sets, radios in Government run Homes. Musical instruments have also been purchased and given to groups of these women.

Suitable security measures have also been ensured by providing an all-women police post having four Constables and one Sub-Inspector for the safety of Vrindavan women destitutes.