 bill no 277 of  2015 the widows' welfare bill, 2015 byshri sunil kumar singh, mp a billto provide for the protection and welfare of widows and for matters connected therewith or incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-sixth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may called the widows' welfare act, 2015short title and extent(2) it extends to the whole of indiadefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(ii) 'prescribed' means prescribed by rules made under the act; and (iii) 'widow' means any legally married woman whose husband has expired and who has not remarried and has no source of income or livelihoodwidows' welfare fund53 (1) the central government shall constitute a fund to be known as the widows'welfare fund(2) the central government and the state governments shall contribute to the fund in such proportion as may be prescribed(3) the fund shall also consist of contributions made by voluntary organizations and donations or contributions received from other organizations or individuals10(4) the fund shall be managed by a board consisting of—(i) the union minister of social justice and empowerment who shall be its ex-officio chairperson;(ii) one representative of the union ministry of finance; (iii) one representative of every state government;15(iv) one representative of the voluntary organizations working in the field of widows' welfare to be appointed by the appropriate government; and(v) the secretary of the union ministry of social justice and empowerment, shall be the ex-officio secretary to the board 4 (1) the central government shall formulate a scheme for the protection and welfare of widows20(2) the scheme shall provide for—(i) payment of monthly subsistence allowance to every widow;formulation of a scheme for the protection and welfare of widows(ii) free health care facilities to the widows and their dependents; (iii) free educational facilities for the dependent/minor children of widows;25(iv) setting up of widows' homes in every district; (v) insurance facility for widows; (vi) financial assistance for marriage of children of the widows; (vii) loan facilities for self-employment of widows; and (viii) any other matter deemed necessary or expedient by the appropriate government305 (1) the appropriate government shall implement the scheme formulated under section 4 of this actimplementation of widows welfare scheme(2) the expenditure for implementation of the scheme shall be met out of the widows'welfare fund constituted under section 3356 the central government shall make provision for suitable employment to every widow as per her qualifications and experience in services under the central governmentprovision for suitable employment for widows7 the appropriate government shall maintain a register of widows, in such form and manner, as may be prescribedmaintenance of a register for widows power to make rules8 (1) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of the act40(2) every rule made under this act by the central government shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each house of parliament, while it is in session, for a total5period 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 reasonsthe condition of widows in the country is very pathetic there is no scheme for their protection and welfare they are left to fend for themselves and nobody takes care of them they die of hunger and diseasesmajority of the widows do not have any source of income even their children do not take care of themin these circumstances, it is the responsibility of the state to come forward to undertake welfare schemes for widows it is, therefore, proposed in the bill to set up a widows' welfare fund for their protection and welfarethe bill seeks to achieve the above objectivesnew delhi;sunil kumar singhnovember 17, 2015 financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for constitution of the widows' welfare fund the central government has to contribute to the fund clause 4 provides for payment of monthly subsistence allowance, free health care and other facilities to be provided to the widows clause 5 provides that the appropriate government shall implement welfare scheme for the widows clause 6 provides that the central government shall make provision for suitable employment for widows the bill, therefore, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that a recurring expenditure of rupees three thousand crore will be involved from the consolidated fund of indiaa non-recurring expenditure of rupees one thousand crore is also likely to be involved memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 8 of the bill empowers the government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of this bill as the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character———— a billto provide for the protection and welfare of widows and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto————(shri sunil kumar singh, mp)gmgipmrnd—2834ls(s3)—02-12-2015