 bill no 32 of  2009 the destitute women and widows welfare  bill, 2009 byshri jp agarwal, mpa bill to provide for the welfare of the destitute women and widows and for matters connected therewith be it enacted by parliament in the sixtieth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the destitute women and widows welfare act, 2009short title, extent and commencement(2) it extends to the whole of india(3) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, appointdefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "authority" means the destitute women and widows welfare authority established under section 3;(b) "destitute woman and widow" means any female citizen of india who is a widow or divorcee and has no independent source of income or livelihood to support herself, or is not being looked after by any family member; and(c) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act53 (1) the central government shall establish an authority, to be known as the destitute women and widows welfare authority in every district of the country(2) the composition of the authority and conditions of service of the members of the authority shall be such as may be prescribedestablishment of the destitute women and widows welfare authority4 the authority shall perform the following functions:—functions of the authority10(i) maintaining a register of destitute women and widows residing in that district;and(ii) formulating plans and schemes for the welfare of the destitute women and widows5 the central government shall provide to the destitute women or widows registered under section 4, the following facilities, namely:—15facilities to be provided to destitute women and widows(a) subsistence allowance of rupees two thousand per month and such other financial assistance as may be prescribed;(b) free health care facilities; (c) free housing facility, wherever necessary;20(d) free education including technical education to the dependent childrenof the destitute women and widows;(e) gainful employment; (f) vocational training;25(g) free travelling facilities by public transport and also concessions in private owned transport;(h) interest-free loans for the purpose of housing and self-employment;and(i) such other facilities as may be necessary for the all-round development and welfare of destitute women and widows30power to make rules6 (1) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act35(2) every rule made under this act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each house of parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both the houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule statement of objects and reasonsa large number of destitute women and widows in our country are leading a very miserable life they do not have any means for their own subsistence and for their dependent children they work as maids and perform various domestic chores such as cleaning utensils, washing clothes, dusting, etc for very small wages they can do such works only when they are physically fit but most widows are not so fortunate being old, physically weak or suffering from serious and chronic diseases, they are incapable of doing physical labour in many cases, they are also mentally challenged such helpless widows have no other option but to resort to begging in streets for their livelihood and many young widows are even forced into prostitution and they are compelled to choose it as a profession to avoid starvation a large number of widows are forced to leave their families after the death of their husbands and generally they move to other places leaving their family, in search of mental peace in many cases, such widows become victims of sexual exploitation at the hands of unscrupulous persons they are deprived of their rights by their in-laws and parents, and they have to manage their affairs themselves their condition gets worse when they are driven out of their home alongwith their children they have to take care of their children alongwith themselves the condition of the widows in rural areas is far worse they are not only ill-treated but are also considered ill-ominous they are forbidden from taking part in family functions being illiterate they are the worst victims of physical, mental and social exploitationour country is a welfare state and, therefore, it becomes the duty of the state to rehabilitate such hapless widows and to implement welfare schemes for this purpose but even after more than sixty years of our independence, a large number of destitute women and widows still remain deprived of government assistance most of them are without employment; suffer from malnutrition and various other ailments it should be the primary responsibility of the government to ensure that these widows live and grow in a healthy environment and are protected from all kinds of exploitation it is, therefore, necessary to enact a legislation for the welfare and protection of the destitute women and widowshence this billnew delhi;j p  agarwaljune 17, 2009 financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for the establishment of destitute women and widows welfare authority by the central government in every district of the country clause 4 provides that the destitute women and widows welfare authority shall formulate plans and prepare schemes for the welfare of the destitute women and widows and that they will also register the names of all destitute women and widows in their respective jurisdiction clause 5 provides that the central government shall provide to all the destitute women and the widows financial assistance of rupees two thousand every month, free medical care and such other facilities as are necessary for their proper development and welfare the bill, therefore, if enacted, would involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that it will incur a recurring expenditure of rupees fifty crore per annuma non-recurring expenditure to the tune of rupees ten crore is also likely to be involved memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 6 of the bill gives power to the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of this bill since the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character————abillto provide for the welfare of the destitute women and widows and for matters connected therewith————(shri jp agarwal, mp)gmgipmrnd—2363ls(s5)—010762009