ENVIRONMENT AND CONSUMER PROTECTION FOUNDATION versus UNION OF INDIA & ORS .

MADAN B. :LO KUR, J. 1. These petitions were filed and taken public interest are intended to bring back some sunshine in the lives

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widows in Vrindavan and in ashrams elsewhere in the country. It pity that these widows have been so unfortunately dealt with, as if

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have ceased to be entitled to live a life of dignity and as if they are not entitled to the protection of Article 21 of the Constitution.

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2. The petitioner, Environment and Consumer Protection Foundation is a registered charitable society and a non-political body. It

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petition under Article 32 of the Constitution essentially for an appropriate writ requiring the Union of India and the State of Uttar Pradesh to take all steps to rehabilitate the widows ofVrindavan so as bring them to a stage where they can live with dignity.

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3. The petition was filed on the basis ofan article 'White Shadows Vrindavan' written by Atul STuthi and published in the New Delhi of the Times oflndia of25 March, 2007. The apparent intention

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article was to report and bring to the notice of the public and the government agencies the pathetic and shocking conditions ofthe widows in Vrindavan - begging in temples and then huddling together in Broadly speaking, the article described the city ofVrindavan in

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abandoned widows live a hand to mouth existence like white shadows thus giving the city another name that is the City of Widows. According to the author no one knows since when these widows have

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coming toVrindavan but most of them are from West Bengal and their life stories often follow a similar pattern which is the death of the husband, relatives leaving them in Vrindavan. days spent singing prayers

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begging at temples where they live on a day to day basis. Most widows refuse to go back to their village or home, even if they are given chance to do so, saying that now this is our home.

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4. According to the author, the widows congregate in some ashrams or temples where they sing bhajans and are paid about Rs. 18

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for about 7 to 8 hours of singing. The rest of their time is spent begging on the streets. Many of them are too old to look after themselves requiring others to pool in their resources to look after them. Overall, the

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paints a rather tragic and dismal picture of the living conditions of widows in Vrindavan.

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5. On reading the article. the petitioner addressed a letter to the District Magistrate in Mathura and brought to his notice its contents and sought further information on what was stated therein. A reply was sent to the petitioner to the effect that necessary steps were being taken to improve the living condition of the widows. There was some correspondence in this regard for a couple of months but to no real effect. It is this sequence of events that persuaded the petitioner to file a petition in this Court with the prayer as aforesaid.

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6. This Court took up the petition in publ~c interest and passed certain significant directions; For example, on 14 November, 2008 the National Commission for Women was directed to prepare a comprehensive report on the problems faced by the widows. It was also directed that the report should contain the age groups of the widows, their family background and all other information relevant for the purposes of this case.

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7. On I April, 2011 the Ministry of Women and Child Development in the G1fi,vernment of India was imp leaded as one of the respondents and on 9 May. 2012 this Comt directed that in order to mitigate the miseries of the widows, a Special Committee should be constituted to undertake an exercise of identification and enumeration of the destitute in Vrindavan - both those having shelter and those wandering in the streets without any shelter. The Committee was required to collect complete data of the widows including the reason for their shifting to Vrindavan and particulars about their family and their present source of mcome.

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8. Several other orders were passed from time to time more particularly from 2015 onwards when the Social Justice Bench was constituted by the Hon'ble Chief Justice of India. As a result, a very large number of reports were generated and concerned authorities like the National Commission for Women, the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the State ofUttar Pradesh began taking considerable interest in the problems faced by the widows ofVrindavan. The reports generated from time to time are as follows:

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l. Summary Report (undated) of the Situation Analysis of Widows in Religious Places of West Bengal prepared by Jayaprakash Institute of Social Change DD - 18/4/l, Salt Lake City, Kolkata- 700 064. This is filed in W.P. No.133 of2012.

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2. Status Report (undated) filed by National Legal Services Authority, Delhi Legal Services Authority and by National

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Commission for Women.

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3. Study by the National Commission for Women in 2009-10 on

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widows in Vrindavan.

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4. Minutes of the Meeting held on I 0 h May, 2011 by the

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Secretary Ministry of Women and Child Development.

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5. Repott filed by National Legal Services Authority dated I 4'h July, 20 12. This is filed in W.P. No. 133 of 2012 on

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26th July, 2012.

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6. A Report dated I September, 2012 on Measures taken for compliance of Hl?n'ble Supreme Court Order dated 03-08-2012 And Few Ground Realities With Some Reforms Immediately Required by Secretary District Legal Service Authority, Addi. Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mathura. This is

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filed in W.P. No.133of2012.

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7. Plight ofForesaken/Forlorn Women -Old and Widows Living in Vrindavan & Radhakund, Mathura (U.P.) - A Survey Report dated J0 h November, 2012 by District Legal Services

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Authority, Mathura. This is tiled in W.P. No.133 of2012.

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8. Rep01t of the Member Secreta1y, National Legal Services Authority dated l 4'h January, 2014 filed in W.P. No. 133 of

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2012 on l 2'h September, 2014.

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9. Report of the Secretaty, District Legal Services Authority at

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Mathura dated 31" March, 2014. 0. Status Report filed by Ms. Renuka Kumar on I 6 h April, 2015.

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11. Minutes of the Meeting held by the Secretary, Ministry of

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Women and Child Development on September, 2015.

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12. Status Report filed on ll March, 2016 on behalfof State of

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Uttar Pradesh.

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13. Report by Ms. Renuka Kumar dated l 9 h April, 20 l 6 on 17 homes administered by the U.P. Mahila Kalyan Nigam.

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14. Status Report dated 28'h April, 2016 by the National Commission for Women of28.04.2016 giving some preliminary

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recommendations.

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15. Status report along with budget requirement submitted by

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.Ms. Renuka Kumar on 31" August, 2016.

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16. Status Report on widows in Swadhar Homes in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and Odisha by the National

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Commission for Women in November, 2016.

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17. Report on the medical facilities for widows and destitute women in Vrindavan submitted by Ms. Renuka Kumar on 8'h

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November, 2016.

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18. Affidavit in compliance filed by the Ministry of Women and Child Development on June, 2017 concerning order dated

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2l"April,2017.

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9. With the plethora of repotis and material available and with the generous assistance given and deep involvement of all learned counsel, we found it more appropriate to request them to give us agreed directions that could be issued to mitigate the discomfort of the widows ofVrindavan. Accordingly, the following order was passed on 29'h March, 2017:

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"Ms. Aparna Bhat, learned counsel appearing for the National Commission for Women and Mr. A.K. Panda, learned senior counsel appearing for the Ministry of Women and Child Development assisted by Ms. Pushpa Bisht, Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Women and Child Development say that it will be appropriate if agreed directions are formulated and issued so that immediate steps are taken to improve the conditions of widows in different parts of the country. Learned counsel for the parties say that either they or their representatives will sit together and come out with a I ist of agreed directions which may be passed by this Court on 6'h April, 2017.''

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I 0. Unfortunately, perhaps due to some misunderstanding or a lack of effective communication, agreed directions could not be finalized till l8'h July, 2017. On that date the learned Solicitor General handed A over an Agreed Action Plan. The Agreed Action Plan with our comment on some issues is given in the table below:

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AGREED ACTION PLAN Directions Action Plan of Our Comment

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proposed by the the Ministry of B National Women and Commission for Child

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Women Develonment

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l. Create an The Ministry of The Aadhaar · interactive data" Women and enabled software

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base which would Child wi II, of course, be c · provide access fur Development will subject to the homes to Inpuf . develop . pending litigation information as appropriate in this Court. · soon as a widow Aadhaar· enabled enters their software for

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system. The capturing data database must concerning have a profile of inmates of the widow to be Swadhar Greh able to understand within next six her needs [and months and, if needs to be necessary, an updated] as soon external agency as a widow enters will be engaged the system The fur it. Access, to portal can be the extent created by the required, will be government with provided to access given to different registered homes stakeholders and to provide their the agency inputs. The entrusted with the Government of development of India has initiated the software will such a programme be asked to build for the purposes in adequate of adoption. safeguards to protect the confidentiality of the info1mation.

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2. Widows with Family counseling The fo ow-up post A fumilies must be centres v.ork:ing counselling should be identified and under Central Social made clear and their ramilies Welfare Board particularly in cases must be (CSWB) and State \merethefamily. counseled for Social Welfare does not take care of taking care of Boards (SSWB) the widow even after B them and in cases across the country being counselled.

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where requiroo will be entrustoo with · legal action, as the responsibility of warranted, may identifying widows be taken. who have families.

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The progress of c the work done will be compiled by the CSWB evety month and a report sent to the Ministry every quarter, The D CSWB will, in consultation with other stakeholders, be asked to develop a suitable module for counseling families E within a period of six months and, thereafter, review and update it as and when

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required.

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3. NALSAmust NALSA/DALSA will create a be advised to provide mechanism to legal aid to the enable homes to inmates of Swadhar access I egal aid. Greh within l 5 days of the acceptance of the plan of action by the Hon 'ble Supreme Court.

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4. Public ~ctor The Ministl)' of The concerned Mini&ry organizatiorn must Women and Child Siould be advised that be encouraged to Development has the fund is intended to contribute certain already taken up the assist and benefit percentage of their matter with the destitute widows. CSR funds for a Department of Public Widows Enterprises and Management Fund Ministl)' of Corporate which would be Affairs. The matter ~d for developing Siall be further pW'sued vocational trainings with them.

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for widows. c The govemmert In all States and Union The benefit of the must actively Territories, medicines rupply offree explore medical are provided free of medicines should be insurances for all cost to the patierts made available to widows and at least through the Common destitute women as widows that are Health Centres and well. Availability of housed in the A:imary Health Certres free rredical u·eatment Swadhar Homes so under tre National reeds consideration. that good medical Health Mission of the fucilities can be Ministl)' of Health & accessed by the Family Welfure. It may, widows. therefore, not be necessary to introduce medical insurance as

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a measure coidd take away a portion of the income of widows and impoverish them

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further. The Ministry of F Health & Family Welfare has been requesred to advise all State Governments and Union Tenitol)' administrations to ensure that access to free medicines ensured to all those &aying in Swadhar Homes.

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6. Homes must be TI1e Ministry of linked to existing Skill Development Government and Programmes. Entrepreneurship Homes must be has been requested encouraged to to prepare a plan of open more action for avenues for development of employing the skills of widows; widows in the and orphan, care and destitute and c hospitality sector marginalized than sticking to women through tailoring etc. sectoral skill which do nor development provide councils. They economically have also been D viable requested to employment to monitor the the widows and progress in this henoe compels regani at regular them to stay in intervals. The these homes. Ministry of Women &Child Development will continue to engage with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship to ensure development of suit le modules for skill G development. A Staff of Swadhar The National Institute

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must be of Public Cooperation trained periodically Child ~velopment

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should (NIPCCD) under the adequately and Ministry of Women appropriately, Development compensated already mandated financially. provide training to dif:terent stakeholders including the staff of Swadhar Greh. Depending training needs assessment, the

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be entrusted with this responsibility. Provision

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been for imparting induction training and subsequent periodic training regular intervals

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of time to the staff of D Swadhar Greh.

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Immediate action to addition to the State Governments

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taken to improve Swadhar Greh Scheme should encouraged the infrastructure of being implemented through to adopt the model the Homes out the country, the planned the fonds to maintain Ministry of Women Ministry.

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Development commenced construction of a new I 000 bedded Swadhar Greh Vrindavan, Mathura.

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lt been designed be age friendly will

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dormitories with attached teilet and utility balconies. The Swalhar

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will also have facility for physiotherapy, open

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theatre, vocational training, sola- solar water heating system, multipurpose etc.

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expected date of completion of this Swalhar Greh Janua-y, 2018.

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PENSION

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l. It was found· The comparison Pension, as a m:lfare that the current between the measure might to be allocation of amount of pension linked with the cost B pension was either provided by the of living index and inadequate or non- Government and should not be existent. The the minimum arbitrarily fixed. primruy concerns wages payable that arose out of under various the research oos government c that the pension schemes is not fuir. amounts were not While, pension is linked to the cost paid as a welfure of living. There measure without was no rationai any services being calculation for rendered by the the amount~ or beneficiary, ooges the ceiling in the is the remuneration number of for the selVices beneficiaries that rendered by the the pension could wage earner. If the be given to in two were to be any given State. equal, it will be a Pension should be major disincentive based on the Cost to able bodied of Living Index person to do any and hence it work should be.on par with the rrummum wage of an unskilled worker with corresponding G in crease as the minimum wage increases.

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STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONING OF SHELTERS

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l. A Multi-optional User-fee> can be paid

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model be employed by a person who is 8 for institutionalized earning. Swadhar shelters. The shelters scheme caters to can be built to cater women who are in the requirement of the the abyss of poverty user on the basis of a and payment of any

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corresponding user- user-fee by them fee for an overnight would be beyond shelter, a day shelter their means. or a fulltime shelter. [However, woiking women hostels will be encouraged to be established by the States and Union

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Territories.]

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2. Direct the integration The two schemes Social audits

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of Swadhar Homes, Swadhar Homes and should be short stay home> and . Short Stay Homes conducted with other similarly placed of the Ministry regard to facility homes to of Women & Child implementation facilitate a smoother Development have of the schemes. implementation of the . already been merged

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policies directed for into the new widow rehabilitation. scheme namely Swadhar Greh w.e.f. 01.0l.2016.

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This scheme is -- implemented by the State Government/ UT Administration with funding from Govt. oflndia. of of of

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of of

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of of

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be

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HEALTH AND NUTRITION of

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of of

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2. Utilization of the Widow pension Widow Pension is paid to Scheme for individuals. In

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procuring medical the light of the 8 facilities.·· availability of medicines free of cost, as stated above, it may not be necessary to divert the pension amount for purchase of

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medicines. D COVERAGE OF LEGAL FEES AND EXPENSES

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I. NALSAand The inmates of DALSAto Swadhar Greh allocate will have access appropriate to free legal aid sanctions to cover provided by the legal exjienses NALSNDALSA of the widows and necessary involved in legal advisory will be

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matters, and the issued in this incidental regard.

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expenses incurred for commuting and so on and so forth.

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VOCATIONAL TRAINING

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l. Mandatoiy and As stated above, organized the Ministty of vocational training Skill B of the women in Development and the shelters to Entrepreneurship imp a rt skill sets has been necessary for an requested to ordinary life and to prepare a plan e.nable them to of action for c earn a dignified development of livelihood. skills of widows and orphan, destitute and marginalized women through sectoral skill development councils. They have also been requested to monitor the progress in this regard at regular intervals. The Ministry of Women & Child F Development will continue to engage with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship G to ensure development of suitable modules.

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GRANT OF SANCTIONS

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I. Enhancement of The financial Thenonns 8 sanctions by the nonns of Swadhar should be Ministiy to provide Greh Scheme have reviewed every the concerned been revised w.e.f. six months. agencies with a 01.01.2016 and budget necessary for on further

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the proper. examination, the functioning of the Department of homes. Expenditure has

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opined that these Periodic and timely are adequate fur the release of grants to time being. facilitate the continuance and sustenance of the homes.

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PERIODIC REVIEW OF THE HOMES

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I. That the National The National Commission for Commission for Women be directed Women may take

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to conduct a review appropriate action to study the existing for taking the status of widows in proposed review to the homes in our study the existing country in the near status of widows in future. homes.

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2. To this end, grants National The Ministry ought be sanctioned by the Commission for nott.o be stingy Rural Ministry, Women may carry with funds- Ministry of Social out their study out especially for a Justice and of the existing good cause. Empowerment and funds available the Ministry of with them. Women and Additional funds if Children fort he sought by them will survey to be made subject to conducted by the availability of

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NCW. funds. 3 .. Mandate a periodic The Swadhar Greh review of the homes Scheme has an every five years iit inbuilt monitoring the State and mechanism. The District Level to monitoring of conduct periodic Homes is inspections of the undertaken through homes to ensure the a three tiered proper structure viz. implementation of District Level, the schemes and the State Level and the functioning of the E

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Central Level. homes and the Swadhar Greh will records monitored sanctioned by the DPO initially for a (District Project period of five Officer). years. A ft er

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implementation of Annually for 3. the scheme for 5 years and then years, the Project every 3 years. Sanctioning Committee shall decide on its farther continuance or otherwise depending on its performance and need

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CREATION OF AWARENESS To engage at 1ural The SW!rlhar Greh

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an:! district levels to Scherre is being spread awareress of it1l>le1rented ~ the the existence of the State Goverrunents. scherres akin to 111e States/UTs w swadhar hemes an:! gererate a'Mll'eress to imput knowledge about Swadhar Greh

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of the rig)lts an:! dissemirnte exercisable by the infcrmati oo about wcmen in similarly Swadhir Greh throug)l pl a:ed s ituatiom. variCllls rrnci:s. As a put of the scheme, guici:lines have already

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reen isstm by the D Ministry ofWcrnen &

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Child Develoixmnt.

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11. It is also our opinion that the effort put in by all concerned in

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the reports that we have adverted to above should not go waste - it must be gainfully utifized, being in a sense a gold mine of pragmatic and workable suggestions. Accordingly, we constitute a Committee to study all the reports filed in this Court and provide us with a common working plan (based on the suggestions in the reports) within a period of two months and in any case on or before 30th November, 2017. The

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Committee shall consist of the following (the first two suggested by the learned Solicitor General on instructions from the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the third by learned counsel for the National Commission for Women):

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I. Ms. Suneeta Dhar of NGO Jagori, 2. Ms. Meera Khanna of Guild for Service 3. Ms. Abha Singhal Joshi, Lawyer and activist

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4. A nominee of HelpAge India, an NGO that has rendered

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valuable assistance in this case.

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5. A nominee ofSulabh International, an NGO that has rendered valuable assistance in this case,

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6. Ms. Aparajita Singh, a lawyer practising in this Court to provide

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any assistance on legal issues.

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12. One of the issues adverted to during the hearing of the petitions, but not mentioned in any of the reports, is the need to encourage widow remarriage. This is a subject of hope that might enable our society to give up the stereotype view of widows. We request the Committee to consider this during its.deliberations. .

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13. We request the National Commission for Women, in public interest, to assist in providing some working space to the Committee. We propose to adequately remunerate the Committee with an honorarium that will be decided when the matter is next heard. 'I:he Registry will ensure that all the reports are made available to the members of the Committee.

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14. Why are the Action Plan and these directions necessary? We seem to be forgetting the power of Public Interest Litigation and therefore need to remind ourselves, from time to time, of its efficacy in providing social justice. Many years ago, this Court noted in People's Unio11/or Democratic Rig/its v. Union of India that "Public in1erest litigation is brought before the court not for the purpose of enforcing the right of one individual against another as happens in the case of ordinary litigation, but it is intended to promote and vindicate public interest which demands that violations of constitutional or legal rights of large numbers of people who are poor, ignorant or in a socially or economically disadvantaged position should not go unnoticed and unredressed. That would be destructive of the rule of law which forms one of the essential

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elements of public interest in any democratic form of Government." A little later in the judgment, it was said:

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"Millions of persons belonging to the deprived and vulnerable sections of humanity are looking to the courts for improving their life conditions and making basic human rights meaningful for them. They have been crying for justice but their cries have so far been in the wilderness. They have been suffering injustice silently with the patience of a rock, without the strength even to shed any tears."

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sec

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15. The advantage of public interest litigation is not only to empower the economically weaker sections of society but also to empower those suffering from social disabilities that may not necessarily of their making. The widows ofVrindavan (and indeed in other ashrams) quite clearly fall in this category of a socially disadvantaged class of our society.

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16. Placing empowerment in perspective. this Court noted in State of Uttaranclzal v. Ba/want Singlt C/zaufaP that the first phase of public interest litigation concerned itself with primarily with the protection of the fundamental rights under Article 21 of the Constitution of "the marginalized groups and ~ections of the society who because of extreme poverty, illiteracy and ignorance cannot approach this Court or the High Courts." We may add-the socially underprivileged groups. These are the people who have no real access to justice and in that sense are voiceless, and these are the people who need to be empowered and whose cause needs to be championed by those who advocate social justice for the disadvantaged.

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17. This recognition formed the basis of the decision of this Court in Dellzi Jal Board v. National Campaign for Dignity & Rights of Sewerage & Allied Workers' wherein providing succour to the deprived sections of society was recognized as a "constitutional duty" of this Court. Referring to several judgments delivered by this Court, it was observed:

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"These judgments are a complete answer to the appellant's objection to the maintainability of the writ petition filed by Respondent 1. What the High Court has done by entertaining the writ petition and issuing directions for protection of the persons employed to _do work relating to sewage operations is part of its obligation to do justice to the disadvantaged and poor sections of the society. We may add that the superior courts will be failing in their constitutional duty if they decline to entertain petitions filed by genuine social groups, NGOs and social workers for espousing the cause of those who are deprived of the basic rights available to every human being, what to say of fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution. It is the duty of the judicial constituent of the State like its political and executive constituents to protect the sec rights of every citizen and every .indiv"1dual and ensure that everyone is able to live with dignity."

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18. There can be little or no doubt at all that widows in some parts of the country are socially deprived and to an extent ostracized. Perhaps this is the reason why many of them choose to come to Vrindavan and other ashrams where, unfortunately, they are.not treated with the dignity they deserve. This is evident from the article that caused this public interest litigation and the compilation of reports that this litigation has generated. It is to give voice these hapless widows that it became ncces5al)' for this Court to intervene as a part of its constitutional duty · and for reasons of social justice to issue appropriate directions~

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19. We must express oilr gratitude IQ the petitioners, the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the National Commission for Women for the efforts put in and particularly to Ms. Renuka Kumar who has been of great assistance to this Court through her reports.

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20. With a view to follow-up on thef.greedAction Plan submitted by the learned Solicitor General, list thes~,matters on 9'" October, 2017.

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