In what can be billed as a most historic and bold decision, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government of Maharashtra on 19 May directed all village panchayats to put the age-old rituals of widowhood to an end. Under these rituals, which are still in practice in the state and many parts of the country, a woman is forced to break her bangles and mangalsutra, rub clean her forehead of the vermilion and wear a white sari to mark her widowhood upon the death of her husband.
The MVA government has issued a circular to this effect, directing all panchayats and officials concerned to put this practice to an end. According this circular, no woman in the state can be forced to follow the practice.
Behind this decision is the precedent set by the Herwar Gram Panchayat in Shirol tehsil of Kolhapur district. The Herwar Gram Panchayat had on 4 May unanimously passed a resolution to stop this inhuman practice. All villagers of the panchayat resolved no woman would be forced to follow widowhood rituals after the funeral of her husband.
Soon another panchayat, Mangaon, followed suit and declared an end to this practice last week. Surgonda Patil, the Sarpanch of the Herwad village panchayat, said that Pramod Jinjade, the founder president of Mahatma Phule Samaj Seva Mandal in Karmala tehsil, took this initiative. The Herwad Sarpanch took this step after one of his fellow Panchayat members died of heart attack when the first wave of Covid-19 pandemic hit Maharashtra. Recalling the events that followed the death of his friend, Patil observed, “During his last rights of I saw how his widow was forced to break her bangles and mangalsutra and wipe the sindoor off her forehead. This only heightened her grief. The sight was heart breaking.” “We all are proud, as our Herwad Panchayat has set an example for other village panchayats to follow. Coincidentally, we are celebrating 100 th anniversary of Rajrishi Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj, who had done a lot for improving the lot of women,” the Herwad Sarpanch further said.
The bold step by these panchayats was applauded far and wide and made the government functionaries sit up and act. Taking a cue, the State Rural Development Department issued the circular banning the practice and asked all gram sabhas to follow the example of the Herwad Panchayat. The government has directed all Chief Executive Officers of the Zilla Parishads to implement the order. There are, however, no provisions made for punishment in case of violation of the order. The Zilla Parishad officials have been asked to encourage Gram Panchayats and spread mass awareness to banish the evil practice.
Commenting on the decision of her government, Maharashtra Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad said, “When I heard about this development, I demanded to implement the Herwad gram panchayat decision throughout the state.” Senior advocate and social worker Abha Singh said, “This step is toward ensuring equality to women. This evil practice, wherever it is prevalent in the country, should be immediately put to end.”
In the meanwhile, Hassan Mushrif, Rural Development Minister, has appealed all gram panchayats in the state to emulate the example set by the Herwad Gram Panchayat. Maharashtra has always been in the forefront of social reform and stop such evil practices.
The credit to bring the evil practice in public discourse and the government circles, ultimately leading to its abolition, goes to Pramod Jingade. Jingade wrote a post on the evil practice on social media. He met village elders and met village panchayats. He got a positive response from all quarters, even from widowed women. Buoyed by this, the Mahatma Phule Samaj Seva Mandal founder did a very unusual thing. “In order to set an example, I declared in writing on a stamp paper that my wife should never be forced to follow this practice in the event of my death. More than two dozen men supported my decision. After that Herwad Village Panchayat people approached me on the issue. They said they would pass a resolution to ban the practice,” Jingade said.
Herwad Village Panchayat has gone a step ahead in empowering women there. Sarpanch Patil said, “We have taken several steps for the welfare of women who have lost their husbands to Covid. We have given financial assistance of Rs 5,000 for the education of each of their children. We felt it was high time we ended the banishment of widows. We don’t think it is right to compel young women to live a life of confinement or be treated as impure or someone who brings misfortune.”