Home for 1,000 widows ‘Krishna Kutir’ inaugurated at Vrindavan

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New Delhi : Minister for Women & Child Development (WCD) Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, along with Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Adityanath Yogi, inaugurated the widows’ home ‘Krishna Kutir’ at a function at Vrindavan, Mathura, on August 31, 2018.

Krishna Kutir is a special home for 1,000 widows set up by the Ministry of Women & Child Development under Swadhar Greh scheme of the Ministry and is the largest ever facility of its kind created by a government organisation.

Speaking on the occasion, WCD Minister Maneka Sanjay Gandhi said that the Vrindavan home will offer shelter and protection to the large number of helpless widows of Vrindavan. An area of 4 acre has now been allocated near the home by the district administration which will be developed into a park and which can be used by the widows of the home, she disclosed.  The WCD Minister said that the widows will be a part of various committees which will be formed to manage the widows’ home. She requested the Chief Minister of UP to provide land in Varanasi for a similar facility to be set up by WCD Ministry, according to a PIB release.

The Minister said that WCD is willing to create a large facility in or around Lucknow where all orphaned children, helpless/abandoned  women in need of care and protection can be located in a community atmosphere. She also urged that the Government should inspect the condition of women in jails as well as those living in mental asylums.

Accepting the offer of WCD Minister, UP Chief Minister Adityanath Yogi announced that the UP Government will allocate land in Varanasi and Lucknow for construction of shelter homes for women and children as suggested by the WCD Ministry. He said it is the vision of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide protection and help to the helpless and those in need of care and protection especially women and children. It is in the pursuit of this goal that the UP Government has become the first State to link the women’s helpline 181 to the One Stop Centres and has provided rescue vans for women in distress in every district, the Chief Minister declared.

The Home for Widows, Krishna Kutir, has been constructed on 1.4 hectare of land through National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) at a cost of Rs 57.48 crores (including cost of the land) with a capacity of 1,000 inmates. It has 100 rooms/dormitories. The design of the Home has been prepared in consultation with Helpage India and is old age friendly. It consists of ground plus three floors with the facilities of ramp, lifts, supply of adequate electricity, water and other amenities for meeting the requirement of senior citizens and persons with special challenges. The facility is also equipped with a large modern kitchen and a skill cum training centre. It also has two dispensaries and physiotherapy facility and the inmates will be given regular medical check ups. The construction of the home has been funded by Central Government and will be managed by the Government of Uttar Pradesh.

The widows’ home has been constructed by the WCD Ministry to mitigate the plight of widows living in pathetic condition in Vrindavan. The Ministry took cognisance of thes shocking condition of widows living in Vrindavan who refused to go back to their native place or their home.