Hyderabad: The Akhila Bharata Prajatantra Mahila Sangham (IDWA), which is championing the cause of single women, on Wednesday decided to petition the Telangana State government seeking better amenities and a more meaningful livelihood by way of employment avenues and welfare measures for the distraught women.

The decision was taken at a full-fledged meeting that attended by representatives from the parent body and all district headquarters besides a large number of single women. Jointly helmed by IDWA President Battula Hymavati and State unit chief Asha Lata, they finalised a slew of demands that needed immediate redressal.

The association is presently fighting for widow remarriage and the abolishment of obsolete practices like exclusion from festivities and social gatherings. Hymavati reiterated that they would demand exclusive budgetary allocation for the welfare of single women besides reviving the hugely successful 'Mahila Pranganaalu' that was launched by N T Rama Rao.

Asha Lata pointed out that according to a survey conducted by them in 19 districts, every third woman was single. Telangana alone has around 40 to 45 lakh single women. The National Survey on the subject said that 9 per cent of the women in the country are single. Of these, 77 per cent constitute women above the age of 50. Most of them are confined to their homes.

Asha Lata added that most women were victims of domestic violence and had to bear torture from within the family. The ones who opt out of marriage or are widowed are inhumanly treated as societal stigmas. CPM member Jyothi lamented that the government was concentrating its subsidies on the large scale industry on the pretext that they would generate employment. She charged that subsidies have been misdirected.

She sought that these should legitimately and logically be earmarked for women, and more so for single ones. Hymavati decried that the issue of pension had assumed tricky proportions as many men leave households in search of opportunities or other women and cannot be traced.

Their wives on the other hand are left in the lurch as they cannot prove whether their husbands were dead or alive. Majorly holding the government responsible for the present plight of single women in India, Hymavati, however, acknowledged the work being done by the incumbent Union Government. Many women narrated their experiences before the decisions were finalised.

By:Mythili Sankara