Gujarat single women's meet seeks increase in widow pension by five times to Rs 5,000

By A Representative
A single women's conference, held under the auspices of the Ekal Mahila Adhikar Sangathan, in Gujarat's Modasa town of Aravalli district has asked state chief minister Vijay Rupani give them lifelong pension, insisting the amount of pension should be increased to Rs 5,000 per month. Currently, the state government offers Rs 1,000 as widow pension.
A memorandum submitted following the meet to the Aravalli district collector and addressed to Rupani wants the authorities to give all single women a plot of land, even as providing them with housing facility, free electricity connection, below poverty line (BPL) and Antyodaya cards, and Annapurna cards to destitute elderly women.
Insisting that widow pension should be started within six months of the death of husband, the memorandum wanted training to be given to young single women in order to enable them to take up self-employment within a year. These women should also be provided with immediate assistance under existing government schemes, it added.

Attended by around 500 single women, most of whom are widows, the memorandum further wanted the government to so away with the age limit for single widows for getting government schemes. should be abolished. Those attending the conference included the women's rights activists Huraben, Jalpaben, Savitaben, Shameemben, Hetalben, Santaben, Hansaben, Shahnazben, Genhi Ben, Heenaben, Meeraben, others.
Mujahid Nafees, patron of the Ekal Mahila Adhikar Sangathan, addressed the meet.

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