KWA urges Govt to release enhanced pension to widows

Kannur, Kerala, Mar 18 (UNI) The Kerala Widows Association (KWA) today urged the Government to take immediate steps for the release of the enhanced pension to the widows in the State and to provide jobs for them under Below Poverty Line(BPL).

Talking to newspersons here, Association President Vincy Chacko and Secretary Hemalatha Nambiar said though the Government had increased the pension, the amount was not yet released.

The association, started in 2002, had been striving for the welfare of the widows in the State. It was conducting various welfare measures like medical and financial assistance to the children of the widows, coming under BPL, they said.

The association will open its Kannur district unit tomorrow and Kozhikode in the last week of this month and later it will open units across the State in a phased manner.

The association had sent a proposal to the United Nations authorities to declare September 27, the death anniversary of the social reformer Rajaram Mohan Roy as International Widows' Day, as a tribute to his effort to abolish Sati Sahagamanam and child marriages.

Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed would take up the matter with the UN authorities to speed up the matter, they added.

UNI BR VD KP1856