Parihaar Foundation:
An NGO promoting the welfare
of widowed and divorced women, and providing social support services to senior
citizens.
Parihaar Foundation, a non-profit organization
promoting welfare of widows, strives to eradicate the woes of widows from
society. Besides widows, Parihaar also endeavors to provide its services to
divorced women. And also providing social support services to senior citizens.
Our nation, although has
witnessed great reforms in human rights still has a long way with respect to
its treatment towards women, particularly widows. With every remedy, crops a
new issue for widowed and divorced women. Even today, issues such as
livelihood, self-respect, social discrimination, second marriage and sexual
harassment loom large and remain unaddressed due to lack of support from
society at large and even family on a personal level.
Widowhood is not a comfortable
state of life in India – it is more a living death! Deprivation and starvation
often plague many a widow. Indian society is dominated by religious
superstitions and cultural practices wherein a widow is deemed as bad omen and
forced to live a lonely and depressed life. Auspicious occasions are called off
when a widow is found nearby. Remarriage, literacy and acceptance are very rare
for widows. More often than not, a widow’s health is affected due to
malnutrition, poverty and lack of medical help. Widowhood is the most neglected
issue in India. Seven percent of widows are living alone.
Ø There are 34 million widows
Ø 8% of total female population
are widows
Ø 50% of female population are
over 50
Ø in terms of prevalence of
widowhood, India ranks highest in the world
Ø Of existing widows 64% are
aged 60 and above out of which 80% are aged 70 and above
Ø In contrast 2.5% Indian men
are widowers
Ø At 60 years and above, 93% and
68% of widows are illiterate in rural and urban areas respectively
While widows in general face
social, economic, emotional and health problems, widows in India experience all
of these plus difficulties with the negative social attitudes they face and
deprivations which restrict their scope of activities and their lifestyle.
Inspired by illustrious social
reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Keshav Karve and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagars,
Parihaar has stepped into help widows and divorced women claim their rightful
place in the society. It is our aim to reestablish their dignity and
self-respect. Through the many services Parihaar provides, we seek to create a
holistic approach to widows social transformation and re integration into
society. Parihaar urges the nation to accept widowed and divorced women
issues with equanimity and join hands with us as volunteers, social
transformers, members, servant leaders and dignitaries of our governing body.
Parihaar is founded on the principle of bringing succor to widowed and divorced
women through social transformation, education and counseling. Through the many
services Parihaar provides, we seek to create a holistic approach to widows
social transformation and re integration into society. In keeping with
the sweeping changes that are observed in other areas of social upliftment it
is our earnest endeavor to remove the crippling stigma that has brought the
lives of these hapless women into a halt for no fault of their own. We also
believe in transparent professional practices and adopt a collaborative
approach with organizations and people with similar interests. We wish to
extend social support services to senior citizens too keeping in mind issues
faced by them.
Founder:
N B Jayaprakash Stage, TV and Film actor, Co-producer of
Kannada Film “Hoomale”, Former Director of Dignity Foundation, Bengaluru
Chapter. He has been previously associated with widow marriage organization Parivarthana
with over 20 widow successful marriages. Now, completely involved with Parihaar
Parivaar working for cause of widows and senior citizens.
Vision:
- Restore *Social Status of widowed and divorced women,
and senior citizens
*Social Status – 2014 will
focus on Dignity and Acceptance
Mission:
- Transform the society for indiscriminating, complete
participation of widowed and divorced women in mainstream society
- Provide a multi-dimensional approach to solve
financial, social, emotional, moral, medical and physical issues of
widowed and divorced women
- Providing social support services to needy senior
citizens
Values:
- Tolerance
- Pragmatism
- Social Transformation
This is the basis of our
projects and action statements.
Action Statements:
- Securing the interests, future and livelihood of
widowed and divorced women
- Sowing seeds of social status for widowed and
divorced women today, to reap social transformations tomorrow
- Social support services to senior citizens, fighting
for the rights of senior citizens lobbying with the Govt agencies
Parihaar- Path forward:
To begin with, our operations
will focus on major cities in every state to awaken and gather the educated,
forward thinking social transformers-to address and spread the activities across
cities and suburbs alike.
Objectives – 2014:
Parihaar to function
completely;
- Promote Parihaar and the cause
- Enable widowed and divorced women wedding
- Extending all type of support to needy senior
citizens
- Render Parihaar as a self sustainable organization
The cause – Identify, address widowed and divorced women issues,
and senior citizens
Our services focus on
providing:
- Helpline for widowed and divorced women, and senior
citizens
·
Moral, social and security support
·
Emotional, legal and medical counseling
Conciliation and Mediation centres
·
Career development
·
Livelihood creation
·
Widow Pension
·
Education
·
Companionship solutions
·
Outlook change and mentoring programs
·
Hotline support
·
Volunteer management wing
· Marriage services
o
Private registration, matchmaking on a database of
verified prospects
o
Detailed match verification
o
Face to face meeting events
o
Legal and medical counseling
·
After services: support
through post-marital counselling
Parihaar Foundation, 2992, 2nd Main, 17th Cross, BSK 2nd Stage, Bangalore - 560 070
Ph: 91-80-4148 2727 Mob: 91-9972 322 322
parihaar.foundation@gmail.com
www.parihaarfoundation.com
