Maneka Gandhi proposes tax rebates for single married women with children to Finance Ministry

Union Minister Maneka Gandhi has proposed tax rebates for single married women with children in order to provide them better financial security.

"A proposal in his regard has been sent to the Finance Ministry and the Prime Minister," the Women and Child Development Minister told reporters on the sidelines of a function here. Single married women include women who are either separated, divorced or widowed. There are over four crore such women in the country comprising around 3% of the total population.

"This is to reduce the financial dependency of single married women with children so that they can take better care of them," a senior officer in the ministry said.

The number of such women is considerably large since many women are abandoned, deserted or unmarried which may not be reflected in the census records as they are not officially divorced or separated, the officer said. The Ministry has also proposed inclusion of spouse's name in the death certificate so that women can claim entitlement after the death of their husbands.

"We are also working with the office of Registrar General of India as well as the state governments to ensure that the name of the woman is compulsorily mentioned in the death certificate of husband," the official said.

"This will ensure that a widow is facilitated in getting all entitlements after the death of her husband," he said. The Ministry has also approved construction of a widow home, which will be the largest in the country, in Vrindavan. It will have a capacity to house 1000 women.