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Muslim women agitate for stipend

Staff Reporter

BHUBANESWAR: Over 300 divorced Muslim women on Tuesday staged a demonstration in front of the Legislative Assembly demanding regular release of monthly stipend from the State Wakf Board.

"As per the Muslim Women Protection Right on Divorce Act, 1986, divorced Muslim women have legitimate right to get stipend or pension from Wakf Board towards their living. Despite our repeated request, the board is not paying any stipend to the women," said Mahe Aphoroj Begum, Secretary of Talaki Mahila Sahayata Samiti (TMSS).

She said about 350 women had sought intervention of courts for getting the monthly stipend from Wakf Board. Following courts' verdicts, the Wakf Board had started disbursing stipend in May 2006, Mahe Aphoroj Begum said.

"It is a matter of great regret that Wakf Board stopped paying after six months. The TMSS has time and again requested Chief Minster Naveen Patnaik and Law Minister Biswa Bhushan Harichandan on the issue. But any action is yet to be initiated on the board," she said.

These divorced women get monthly stipend ranging between Rs. 400 and Rs. 700 on basis of their economic and health condition.

"Most of the women have not been included in developmental schemes. The women are not even provided with legal aid," Hurmat Bibi, one of the members, said.

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