Madhya Pradesh government gives Rs 150 to widows in monthly pension, and those above 40-years of age are given Rs 300 from the Union government. However there is no Union government scheme providing financial aid to widows under 40.
Activists say that Rs 150 per month turns out to be Rs 5 a day which is not even sufficient to buy a cup of tea, adding that even if the amount is doubled, it will not be much help.
Rs 5 a day: MP widow pension not even enough to buy a cup of tea.
The pension must be rationalised and in line with inflation, or else it should be scrapped and employment assistance should be provided for, they added.
As per government data, people earning less than Rs 32 per day are considered to be below poverty line, then what about those getting Rs 5, questioned activist Chandrashekhar Gaur who wrote to the PM and the CM for reforms in pension for widows.
As a response under Right to Information Act, the Union government stated that it has not received recommendations from any state government for altering the provisions of minimum eligibility age of 40 years for widows for Indira Gandhi Social Security Pension (widow pension) of Rs 300.
On the other hand, widows below the age of 18 years are not eligible for any assistance.
“I have urged the Prime Minister that pension should be at least made equivalent to the Rs 32 per day and it should be made compulsory for state governments to make contribution to this pension provided by Union government,” he said.
Activists of Gauravi Crisis Center for Women feel for procuring the documents required for applying for the pension a woman has to make rounds of the offices and even spend money . “We have so far received 49 cases of widow women who were faced to several difficulties in procuring requisite documents for applying for widow pension (sic),” she added.