*KAUN BANEGI LADLI LAKHPATNI?* * *
*By Sabina Martins* * * “ Ladli Lakshmi” the most hyped scheme is yet to get operational. The scheme is ostensibly meant to right the declining sex ratio of girl children. But instead of ensuring her survival by good health care, nutrition, education, employment, protection from abuse exploitation and oppression, the government decided to give money for marriage, promoting Dowry, the very reason why girls get killed. Dowry related violence have become cruder over the past years. We have umpteen cases of women seeking help on being thrown out of their marital home while their “Saaman” continues to remain in the custody of the husband or in laws. It ranges from gold, big buys like cupboard, sofa sets, bed, washing machines, house hold articles and off course gifts given. Dowry has changed its form and more is elicited by means, fair or foul. The schemes for dowry are also welcomed in the same spirit. The Government does little or nothing to make its system work, when rights are violated and assistance sought. We evaluated the long struggles against the dowry system and the strategies to combat it. Anti Dowry activists did not give or take dowry, as well as did not attend such marriages. This campaign strategy helped in creating awareness, but many an anti dowry crusader lost out on their legitimate equal share in property rights which was termed dowry. Women were made to sign off their rights in property, in lieu of the gold and gifts given as dowry. Even today the control and ownership of wealth is not with the bride, despite it being given in her name, not even her salary. And so the women’s movement campaigned to delink Dowry from the legitimate equal property rights of women. We decry Dowry and demand equal property rights The Kanya Daan scheme of the erstwhile government treats women as objects “Daan” to be given away and a sum to be paid to take care of the”burden “. The objective of the Ladli Lakshmi scheme is also to ease this financial burden. *We decided to delink the ill conceived Kanya Daan and Ladli schemes from Dowry and avail of it as a rightful share of the tax payer’s money for empowerment.* * * We assisted women in availing the taxpayer’s money for empowering themselves. Not all the Kanyas who applied got the “Daan”. The reason being, they were the poorest of poor and outside the radar of this system. One such Kanya is Meera (name changed) I had met Meera in Apna Ghar on one official visit. The minor was living with her alcoholic father in Goa when her mother was beaten and thrown out of the house. When she did not hear from her mother, she ran away in search of her, to Bombay, only to discover she had died. Meera was found crying on the steps of the building, t where her mother worked ,by the police. She was housed in a children’s home there and then brought to Goa to be handed over to her father. The father could not be located and so she was housed at Apna Ghar. Years later, she got in touch with me to look for a job for her, as she had no where to go. After turning eighteen, she had to leave Apna Ghar and work as a domestic help. With no formal education provided in the state run home and no skills,, she worked as domestic help, operator at telephone booth, receptionist, sales girl, moving from place to place till she met a young man who was willing to marry her. And yet again, she sought help as she could not register her marriage, because she had no documents to prove her existence. She did not have her birth certificate neither the school leaving certificate to prove her birth. The girl was not sent to formal school even at Apna Ghar. She also needed a residence certificate. She could not get one as she did not have a ration card. She did not have a ration card as she did not have a house. She was then asked for her voter identity card. She did not have one as she did not have a ration card. She was caught in a vicious circle. So Bailancho Saad’s journey to get the documents to register the marriage began. Apna Ghar was approached to get her papers. They in turn asked her for some evidence that she was housed there. Yes, she was there the same year when a baby died in Apna Ghar due to ant bites. It took several trips and telephone calls to unearth record books. Despite knowing committee members and egging them on to find her file, all that we could get was an entry record of when she was admitted. Some of the staff recognized her. She was in some photographs of cultural program for dignitaries in Apna Ghar. Then the search for her file began. Despite searching piles of files, her file was not traceable and it was concluded that perhaps during the shifting from the earlier called Bal Nike tan to the new building named Apna Ghar, it must have got misplaced. There was no guarantee of finding a birth certificate in the missing file . We were back to square one looking for other legal solutions. Birth registration procedures require witnesses who would vouch that she was born. Persons known then to her as minors were not traceable. She had to file legal affidavits stating she was a major with secondary evidence. A residence certificate for marriage was not easily got, from the local body, where she worked and stayed, till we intervened. The marriage registration office had its own set of obstacles to be cleared .Finally the marriage was registered in February 2011. Meera was advised to avail of the Kanya Daan scheme. The form was brought and once again the marathon race for documents began. This time the period of residence for residence certificate was more and so back again we were sent to Apna Ghar to locate the missing file. Finally on 13th Feb 2012 she submitted her application stating the facts of her situation. As luck would have it, the election code was declared and the government stopped processing the applications. A new government got elected. It discontinued the Kanya Daan scheme. Once again she got pushed out by the system which is ostensibly meant for girls like her. The new Ladli Lakshmi scheme is for marriages registered after 4th April 2012. Meera is still making her trips to the department. More than a year has passed. No marriage ceremony or reception has been held as she belongs to the socio economic class of have-nots. Bailancho Saad is also making the trips to the Department of Women and Child to espouse her cause. We have been promised that her case will be considered but she will get only Rs 15,000 as she was married before elections. But right now there are no funds we are told. She still has to wait... The last time we went to the department, the MLAs had also sent their PA's to get the Ladli Scheme forms. The department said they had none. They too will have to wait. While the government will give a lakh to Lakhpati's and Crorepati’s Ladlis , without asking for PAN cards and credit cards, will a poor orphan like Meera become a Ladli Lakhpatni without a birth certificate, school certificate, parents death certificate, residence certificate , ration card or voter card? Will Meera bring a Ladli into this world to become a Ladli Lakhpatni after eighteen years? ( article earlier appeared in Gomantak Times and Lokmat (marathi) )