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'Dads can mother': Times of India |
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Written by Administrator
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2008-07-28 03:59:46 |
It's tough to find a Mrs Kramer in real life. Or so many Indian fathers, who want primary custody of their minor child, would say. These dads contest the general view that mothers are best suited for the caregiver's role, and want the law to be open about the fact that in many cases the father may be a better custodian. "A man can also multitask between domestic work, business and taking care of the family," says Bangalore-based stockbroker Kumar Jahgirdar, who has been fighting for primary custody of his 13-year-old daughter for almost nine years now. "Giving a father visitation rights, like spending one hour a week in the park or meeting the child in the mother's presence, are not fair," he adds. While such views have already formed support groups of fathers on the Internet, Jahgirdar has gone a step ahead. Last month, he founded Child Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting (CRISP), an organisation that aims to "fight for a child's right to have access to both parents". Over 200 fathers are already said to have joined him. Jahgirdar's initiative may strike a chord among many divorced fathers in India. "The courts are much more in favour of the mother," says Supreme Court lawyer Geeta Luthra. "But you cannot negate the father's role completely, especially in cases where the mother has gone abroad, or there are psychological reasons to be considered." The gender of the child is also often held significant by the court in granting custody of a female child to the mother. "But a girl child is safer with her father and a stepmother than with her mother and a stepfather," says Naveen (surname withheld on request), who counts himself "more fortunate than most". Naveen, who has had full custody of his 13-year-old daughter for three years now, believes his is a rare case. "I don't know any other single divorced father, whereas I know of many single mothers," he says. Men like him feel that since mothers too are working outside home now, they aren't any closer to their children than fathers. "Ultimately, the most important thing is that both parents should be able to spend equal quality time with the child," says Jahgirdar, who, after reaching the Supreme Court twice, now gets to spend 110 days a year with his daughter, including weekends and vacations. The court denied him custody because there was no female member in his house. But now that Jahgirdar has got remarried, he has filed a fresh application. "Chetana (his ex-wife) has two small children from her second marriage, whereas we don't have any so far," he says. But isn't such a prolonged court battle unfair to the child? Jahgirdar maintains that his daughter has always taken a neutral stand. "She can't decide between her two eyes, no?" That's probably the most unpleasant part of the whole affair. "If the child can decide, there is no need for the judge," says Jahgirdar. But then few cases can get as murky as a custody battle. "Sometimes, when the bickering gets too nasty, you have to bring in the child," admits Mehak Sethi, senior legal officer with Lawyers Collective, while conceding that it's a tough step to take. Suffering parents, however, get almost vitriolic on the question of asking a child to choose between the two. "Does the judiciary realise that its prime goal is to rule keeping in mind the welfare of the child and that children are not always the best judge of their welfare, especially minors and alienated children?" says an entry in the blog of a father fighting for his children's custody. The child's happiness should indeed be the focus of all parties concerned. But embittered fathers feel that pro-women laws often blur the fact that the child may be better off with them. "Is there a ministry entirely for children?" asks Jahgirdar. "There is a ministry of women and child development. The focus should be on the child's welfare, and sometimes children can be nurtured outside a woman's shadow too."
Joint/share Child custedy should be the LAW , irrespective of any situaion.Stop treating the Fathers just like a Free ATM machine. Stop creation of Father less child. It had been wittness through various study establish the fact behond resonable dought that a Father less child is abused mentally, sexually, finacially at least more than 10 times than the child under fathers custedy. A girl child forced to go for prostituions 15 times more and boy child forced for child labour more than 15 times than a child under father custedy. Need for seperation of Present Women and child Minsitry and formations of Child wellfare ministry , as presently the well fare of the child had been neglected in the name of selfhish women well fare. Women well fare and Child well fare are not the same.
For Further Reference: |
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Last Updated ( 2008-09-05 07:17:28 )
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Brief Facts about Save Family Foundation (SFF) and Associate NGOs across the country. |
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Written by Administrator
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2008-07-22 05:18:23 |
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Brief Facts about Save Family Foundation (SFF) and Associate NGOs across the country. About the Group: - The SFF group comprises the most educated, qualified and talented (intelligentsia) people in different fields like Management Gurus, IT, Telecom, Banking, Service Industry, Bureaucrats, Media Personalities, Automobile and FMCG including NRI population and these are the people who have decided to come on the ground and fight for the justice.
- The present size of the group stands at 1,00,000 active members across the globe (active = in constant touch).
- We have grown from 3 persons in 2005 to currently 1,00,000 members due to dedicated, consistent, committed and hardworking volunteers. The community is growing even faster.
- The group operates more than 100 active blogs (with regular updates), 16 websites, 26 NGOs and has a strong Internet campaigning group.
- The group is connected through a centralized SMS and mail system – to mobilize the group within minutes across the country and globe.
- It is a diversified group with regional sentiments/leaders and yet with a common objective to promote Gender Equal Laws and Policies.
Our Support: - Potentially in Delhi and NCR, there are around 5,00,000 people who have been suffering or suffered at the hands of the biased laws in favour of the wives (in juxtaposition to women in general who too suffer being related to men as sisters or mothers) and would be willing to support to eradicate this undue bias. So the group is not anti-women, and not even anti-wives, but is striving for a fair deal to all under law, and want the laws to be evenly poised without any gender bias, particularly when the said laws in their implementation have not contributed at all to the women’s welfare in general.
- All the group members are willing to contribute towards making the laws gender neutral and are already working for the equality in the provisions of IPC, Cr.P.C, Evidence Act, etc. (like replacing the words husband / wife with spouse and man / woman with person).
- More than 200 volunteers for media and Internet campaign.
Shocking Statistics: - 280 children arrested in 2006 under the draconian laws.
- As per the NCRB data, more than 80% people arrested under dowry laws cases have turned out to be innocent. (For example : in the year 2006 a total number of 137180 persons were arrested under 498A and out of those 4812 were not even chargesheet. Out of the 62746 persons who were charge sheeted - 50,895 i.e. approx 81% were found innocent after the completion of the trial and the rest are still under trial).
- Every year 52,000 married men commit suicide in India as against 28,000 married women (source: 2005 – NCR).
- Every year more than 1,00,000 men lose their job and become unemployed because of wrongful arrests under the dowry laws.
- World Health Organisation report on Elder Abuse finds misuse of dowry laws by the daughters- in-law as the main reason for the elder abuse in India.
- The Supreme Court of India has already termed the dowry law misuse as “Legal Terrorism”.
- BBC study indicates that more than 80% women under-trials (related to husbands) lodged in Tihar jail (Delhi) are booked under dowry related laws.
- 1,20,000 women (related to husbands) were arrested in the 4 years (2004 to 2007) under the dowry laws as against the 17,000 women only arrested by the British during the tumultuous decade (1937 to 1947). The Women’s Welfare Ministry is in fact the Wives’ Welfare Ministry.
- More than 82% of tax collection is contributed by the Indian men but there is no Men’s Welfare Ministry. In a country like India – where we have an Animals’ Welfare Ministry – it is a complete overlook for the men.
Our Expectations: - Formation of Men’s Welfare Ministry.
- Promotion of Gender equal laws to promote family harmony (man/woman to be replaced by person and husband/wife to be replaced by spouse).
- 498-A IPC to be made bailable, non-cognizable and compoundable, as per the recommendations of Malimath Committee report to save the institution of marriage.
- Punishment for misuse of the provisions of the dowry law by default in case the complaint / case if found false.
- Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA) of 2005 should be gender neutral as it is in all developed countries.
- Workplace harassment legal framework should be made gender neutral.
- Duplication of legal provisions for similar benefits should be scrapped to avoid unnecessary and multiple litigations and also to stop the wastage of judicial and administrative resources.
- Empowerment of women through proper education to make them independent.
- There should not be any discrimination in the matters of religion, caste and sex as well.
- Effective measures to eliminate female foeticide and child abuse/labour.
Potential of the issues:
- Presently more than 5,00,000 families (app. 25,00,000 people on all India basis) directly support the cause.
- About 1 crore people are directly or indirectly affected by the biased legal provisions, and would be willing to support the cause.
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Last Updated ( 2008-07-22 05:27:07 )
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Bureaucrats face Renuka's wrath. |
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Written by Administrator
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2008-07-19 04:21:57 |
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By - Vineeta Pandey Central Social Welfare Board exec director is the latest victim NEW DELHI: Renuka Chowdhury has been at the forefront of the debate over women's rights, but her own backyard, the ministry of women and child development (WCD), is plagued by internal squabbles. As many as nine officers and a personal assistant, most of them women, have been shunted out of the ministry or shifted to another department for not toeing Renuka's line ever since she took charge two-and-a-half years ago.
The latest officer to face Renuka's ire is Sujata Saunik, executive director of Central
Social Welfare Board (CSWB). A 1987 batch IAS officer of the Maharashtra cadre, Saunik was given marching orders after she refused to award media contracts to a particular group, ministry sources said.
Hinting at a possible scam, they said Renuka was keen on awarding contracts for supplying media publicity material to a particular company.
First, joint secretary Lovleen Kacker objected to it and was removed. When other officers too refused to oblige, the ministry reportedly asked CSWB and the National Commission for Women to award the contracts to the firm. But Saunik too disagreed.
"A media tender worth Rs48 crore is at stake. Saunik objected to the tendering process which had only two bidders, including one that is the minister's choice. This apparently did not go down well with the minister and she asked CSWB chairperson Prema Cariappa to remove her," a source said.
Sources also questioned the reinstatement of joint director KJ Kakanwar, who was under suspension for the past two years, facing an inquiry for corruption.
They said Kakanwar was appointed executive director in Saunik's place to facilitate the empanelment of the favoured firm.
Charged with insubordination, favouritism and corruption, Saunik has been deported to the department of personnel and training. Her official vehicle has been taken back and room sealed.
Strongly denying the ministry's allegations, Saunik said: "After 21 years of service, I am hurt to hear that I am abusive and aggressive. The real reason is something else."
Cariappa told DNA: "I am too new to CSWB. I have only taken away administrative powers from Sujata. It is the ministry (of Renuka) which has removed her."
The ministry defended itself saying Saunik misbehaved with Cariappa after the CSWB chairperson reinstated Kakanwar.
Renuka's office said the board's work was suffering due to the tension between the two women officers. The ministry, however, failed to explain why the "tainted" joint director (Kakanwar) was not removed to show impartiality.
Saunik is the ninth bureaucrat to be penalised for not toeing Renuka's line. Her immediate predecessor Archana Awasthi too was removed within five months of taking charge for similar reasons.
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This is the real face of our WCD Minister? One hand she can't maintian the harmoney in her own ministry, but do not foget to calim that she will teach the men what thier mothers had not teach them!!!!!! She adviced do not trust Men, but trust condom. Let the people first decided, should at all trust her as WCD minister or not?
"Renuka's office said the board's work was suffering due to the tension between the two women officers."
Howcome madam Renuka?? How can two women fight? It is always a man who creates a tension. We cant believe it Renuka ji.. and your own office is saying so?? Strange!! Must there be some "man" behind this. Do you Know : |
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Last Updated ( 2008-07-19 06:03:19 )
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