#vrindavan widows

Vrindavan widows celebrate Diwali

Hundreds of widows living in various ashrams of Vrindavan celebrated Diwali at Kesi ghat on Yamuna banks By HT Correspondent, Agra Like in the past years, widows living in various ashrams of Vrindavan celebrated Diwali this year too on the Yamuna banks there on Tuesday. Maintaining social distancing, around hundred widows gathered at historic Kesi ghat on the Yamuna river in Vrindavan and lit…

BBC News spotlights the state of widows in Vrindivan, and includes Maitri India's work with them:

"India is home to an estimated 40 million widows - approximately 10% of all women.

Ageing women are more vulnerable than men. Without any financial security or welfare infrastructure, many of them are abandoned in Vrindavan- where they live off charity while they wait to die."

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"Considered inauspicious, widows are ostracised by many and have few sources of income."

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"Helping these women with their finances are non-profit organisations such as Maitri.

'The social welfare system in India is practically non-existent,' says Winnie Singh, the founder of Maitri.

All widows over the age of 60 are eligible for a small government pension worth less than $5 (£3) a month.

But most are illiterate and do not have bank accounts to access even that.

'How can someone getting 300 rupees, or less than $5, survive?' says Ms Singh.

'How are they going to hire a room to live, buy rations etc? Even if you give them a below-the-poverty-line card, that doesn't give them anything free.'"

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"In a nation without social security and state healthcare, there is growing anxiety about how India will care for its elderly."

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"In Vrindavan, some non-profit organisations are tackling the problem of food and healthcare at a micro level.

At Maitri's centre, about 500 widows converge at midday for a free hot meal.

They are given health advice and free medicines as well.

With families struggling to care for their elders at home, the plight of these women is likely to become increasingly common."

 As the bitter cold winter set in Northern India this year, Maitri India purchased warm woolen blankets and shawls for the destitute widows in Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh. This was made possible because of our generous donors.  Most of the widows we work with have little or no source of income besides singing hymns at local temples. With little or no family support, many widows live a solitary existence in Vrindavan, where they rely on donations and resort to begging to survive. Many of them pay rent to live in hovels where there is no electricity or water. Needless to say, buying a blanket to keep herself warm is probably not even an option for an elderly widow begging on the streets of Vrindavan.  It was quite something to see the smiles lighting up the widows’ care-worn faces as they received their own blankets and shawls, knowing that somebody cares about them.