Widows – UPSC GS1

The number of widows in the country has increased tremendously between 2001 and 2011.

As per census data, the number of widows in the country was only 18.5 lakh, which was 0.7% of the total population in 2001, but in 2011, it went up to 5.6 crore, which was 4.6% of the entire population.

India is the home of the largest number of widows in the world, followed by China with around five crore widows.

Despite a law banning child marriages, there are still 1.94 lakh child widows in the country.

The Supreme Court appointed a committee comprising of social workers and a lawyer to suggest measures to be taken for rehabilitation of widows abandoned by their family members and to deliberate on framing a policy to promote widow remarriage in the country.

Widow remarriage should be encouraged in society as it “might enable our society to give up the stereotype view of widows”.

The essential things, like food and drinking water, were not being provided to them.

To prepare a common working plan for the welfare of widows

Examine all the prevailing schemes for widows and reports filed before the court by government and National Commission for Women.