Widows and Orphans Pension

Widows and Orphans Pension - Daily Mirror

By S R Balachandran

In a cultured society, special care should be shown towards elderly people, incurable people, patients, widows etc. Widows are unfortunate people who have to bear mental agony especially when they are not having adequate earning capacity and finance. A widow may prefer to re marry due to the following reasons:

* To continue the pleasant life she enjoyed in the past (why should she waste her youthfulness when she loses her husband early in life).
* To have financial and other support to look after her family.
* To take part in social activities without being ignored by the society
* To be taken care when she is sick and old by her family members

A widow should have the option of re-marriage and it’s our duty to encourage re-marriages. In India Mahatma Gandhi fought for education and re-marriage of widows and to a certain extent, I feel in India this problem has been solved.

In Sri Lanka, when a widow re-marries, she has to forgo her pension. This is the main hindrance for her to get married again as she is in fear of financial loss if her next husband is not financially sound to look after the family. In fact some years before in the budget proposal it was mentioned that widows could continue enjoying 50% of the pension after her second marriage. Regrettably no action has been taken to date to implement this proposal.

Unmarried daughters

At present, an unmarried daughter could enjoy the pension only till she is 26 years old. Thereafter unless she is handicapped no financial support is given. Due to the prevailing situation in Sri Lanka, the ratio of eligible males is low due to death / leaving the country for employment etc. Therefore, it should be admitted that all girls are not blessed with married life and it is the duty of the government to look after their needs till they get married. Due to this problem, I feel several girls are leaving the country for foreign employment knowing very well of the agony they are going to face. Therefore, I propose that unmarried daughters should continue receiving their father’s pension until she settles down. If the government feels that material funds are required, there are several ways of raising funds I make an appeal to all Ministers, Members of Parliament, Charitable Organizations, Religious Leaders and the media to consider these proposals seriously and help to wipe off the painful tears of our unfortunate sisters and parents.