Widow pension eludes many deserving women
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, February 11 2018: It's like a mirage.

You can see it but you can never reach it.

There is a widow pension scheme in the State and a great many widows know about it.

They have spent considerable time, energy and money to get enlisted for the scheme but many of them are unsuccessful so far.

Under the Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme, widows in the age group of 40 to 79 years are given monthly pension of Rs 300 each.

Widows who have reached 80 years are given Rs 500 each.

48 years old Haobam (O) Bimola is one eligible woman for the widow pension scheme.

She worked hard through the local MLA to get her name enlisted for the scheme.

One of the MLA's workers collected necessary documents along with Rs 500 from her but her name is yet to be enlisted for the scheme.

Widow pension eludes many deserving women

Haobam (O) Bimola w/o late Haobam Chandrakumar is currently staying at Mitra Samaj, Lamboi Khongnangkhong under Uripok AC.

Haobam Chandrakumar died in 2005 after suffering from liver cirrhosis.

Bimola was then just 36 years old.

As such, she was not then eligible for the widow pension scheme.

Nonetheless, she submitted necessary documents to the Social Welfare Department for the Family Benefit Scheme which is usually given to a family whose main bread winner has expired but Bimola has not received from the same scheme either.

On reaching 40 years, Bimola submitted application form for the Widow Pension Scheme along with necessary documents through a worker of the local MLA.

The worker also took Rs 500 from Bimola with an assurance that she would be certainly enlisted for the pension scheme.

She also went to the DC office repeatedly but to no avail.

Being a daily wage earner, she could not pursue the matter persistently nor she could go to the MLA.

Recounting those days, Bimola said that they spent around Rs two lakh in their efforts to treat her husband.

The economic condition of the family after the husband's death was pathetic.

Even securing a square meal a day became a serious challenge.

"With the hope that our woes may be ameliorated a little bit, I applied for Family Benefit Scheme as well as Widow pension but both the schemes still remain a mirage to me", Bimola said.

Bimola got married when she was 17 years old.

She is now mother of two sons and four daughters.

On the other hand, Chandrakumar was an alcoholic.

As his income could not meet the requirements of the family, Bimola started selling fruits at Khwairamband when she was 25/26 years old.

She also ran tea stalls at Kasturi Keithel and Uripok Keithel.

She is currently doing the same trade at the temporary market shed of Khwairamband Keithel after taking five vendor plots on lease and she is paying Rs 1500 as monthly rent for the five plots.

"Even though I've been living in extreme poverty after my husband's death without any property, I've not been given any rations cards either for BPL or AAY", Bimola said.

She said that necessary documents for generating NFSA ration card in her name have been submitted recently.

As of now she is not getting any subsidised food item including rice from the Government.