Monthly cash handouts could be given to men whose wives have died in a groundbreaking new policy in the state of Haryana.
Widowers could benefit as early as next year, according to state Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar who said the plan was to roll out the changes once laws had been amended.
At present, the benefits are only given to women across India who lose their husbands.
‘We are seriously considering granting a pension to widowers in line with the pensions provided to widows,’ Khattar told the state assembly.
Haryana pays a monthly pension of 1,600 rupees ($24) to the state’s 650,000 widows every month.
But men who lose their wives receive no such payout, prompting calls for the scheme to be revised.
Local politician Ravinder Macchrouli argued that like widows, husbands also suffer when they lose their loved ones and were entitled to the payments.
There are no figures on the number of widowers in the state of 27 million people.
A widower who wrote to Macchrouli had complained that the scheme was unconstitutional as it discriminated on the basis of gender, a local newspaper reported.
Most states in India pay monthly cash payments to widows from poorer backgrounds due to concerns that some widows, especially in rural areas, may be abandoned by their families who consider them a financial burden.
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