By Melarbor L Thabah
As the name goes, Social “Justice” which is implied in the names of the two ministries that is the Ministry ofSocial Justice and Empowerment and Ministry of Law and Justice, it would be apt if the support for the daughter(s) by the father who is divorced from his wife to be up to 23 years. By doing so, Justice and Equality is achieved for the males of India as enshrined in the Preamble and in the Fundamental Rights To the Indian Constitution.
The suggested and propositioned 23 years is a 5-year age relaxation in alimony for daughter(s) when compared to the alimony for son(s) which is 18 years. 23 years is also the age at which the daughter(s) will finish basic fundamental bachelor’s graduation degree. Thus, a “Cut Off Age” of 23 years should be set up for which the daughter(s) by then, should have finished the critical Bachelor’s degree should she decide to pursue her studies. Should she quit her studies mid-way, the support will be the same which is 23 years in the public interest of “Women Empowerment”. If the daughter(s)want to extenuate their degree by pursuing a Master’s or especially her PhD, then the father should not be mandatorily obligated by law to support the daughter(s) since it is the daughter(s) personal ambition. Moreover, there are various sorts of central and state scholarships to support the daughter(s) , especially for a doctoral degree. Graduation degree is the degree where a person can get 90% of private jobs, state and central government jobs including Civil Services Exams should the person(s) pass these exams.
Consider this fact, in rural areas or in poor families of both rural and urban areas whose parents are either farmers or daily laborers living hand to mouth, no support is given by the father to mother and her children or their many children when they have separated for good or when the father has fled away especially in cases of cohabitation which is very common in poor families especially in rural areas or even when they are married in a low key manner, they cannot afford a lawyer for divorce nor the mother filing a case for child support. There is a huge percentage of our population of fathers who do not pay child support in India which is why there is so much poverty amongst the urban poor and more so in rural areas. At least here in this case which I am proposing, the father who is either a salaried person or a businessman is actually paying for child support. What I am asking is simply making the case is that the alimony support for the daughter should be up to 23 years.
As per the current unjustified law, the father has to support the daughter(s) till the time the daughter(s) get a government job which is extremely scarce and hard to get in this day and age or to start her own business which is extremely hard to acquire a shop to set up because of heavy advancements or any other business. The father will be financially restricted in starting a new family since he has to support the grown-up daughter(s) till she is old if the daughter(s) are unemployed or unmarried. There is no formulated mechanism in place to ascertain whether the daughter has got a job or a non-permanent job or is married especially when the father or daughter(s) have moved to a far distant place or in a huge city to keep track of them. By having a cut off age of 23 years, negates all these complications. This is also extremely unfair to the father because he will not be able to support the new family who will have to look after him till his time of death. His new family will face financial hardships since he will not be able to give the best for his children from another wife in all spheres of their life or if he has a third wife should his second wife so chooses to divorce him. The father is at a severe financial disadvantage, emotional wreck and will surely have severe mental health problems lacking peace of mind whether the father is a daily wage earner, salaried person or businessman. As per current law, there is no “Cut Off Age” for daughter(s) which severely lacks justice and equality and must be changed immediately.
We have seen throughout the world that when the parents are divorced, in 90% of the cases, the mother always gets full custody of the children since the law is tilted lopsidedly towards women leaving the father with no one to look after him and the father has to start his life all over again in terms of starting up a new family. This is more glaring in a matrilineal state like Meghalaya. In the interest of “Justice” by the Ministries of Social Justice and Law and Justice, this decadent extremely unfavorable law must be immediately amended and for these Ministries to live up and walk by their name.
The Ministries of Social Justice and Empowerment and Ministry of Law & Justice should ac tin a synchronized manner and as a single cohesive unit to make sure that the Preamble and Fundamental rights to the Indian Constitution of Justice and Equality are strictly followed which this archaic Alimony Law for daughter(s) support does not follow at all. This current Alimony Law for Daughters promotes financial detriment and adds to the deterioration of the physical, mental, emotional and psychological well being of divorced or separated fathers. This Law has been a cause of great aggravation to the fathers and serves as a deterrence for future modern male fathers to start up a family in our beloved nation of India. This Law also indirectly encourages female feticide because of the lack of a cut off year of 23 years support for daughter(s). This Law must be absolutely and fundamentally changed this year by these two ministers, be passed by the Union Cabinet, both Union Legislatures and finally passed by the President this year. The time has come for reforms and changes. After the Amendment, the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 should be expanded to all religions and should not be specific to any religion in India.
