Kerala Government decides to carve independent Women & Children Department

Thiruvananthapuram: Giving into the long-standing demand of social activists and policy planners, the state government has decided to carve out an independent Women and Children Department out of the Social Justice Department. The remaining part will deal solely with the welfare of the disabled and the old and social security pensions.

Former social justice additional secretary Govindan Namboodiri has been appointed as special officer to submit a report on the bifurcation within three months. “Already the Social Justice Department is in charge of infinitely more than it can handle under various programmes like social security, social defence, juvenile justice, women empowerment, geriatric welfare and schemes for the disabled,” a top Social Justice official said.

The Department operates 50-odd welfare schemes, deals with 11 major central and state laws, and runs hundreds of homes under 25 types of welfare and rehabilitation institutions, including Nirbhaya. Bifurcation is expected to spread welfare resources more evenly among various segments of beneficiaries.

“We have found that areas we need to concentrate like old age welfare and the empowerment of the disabled are being generally ignored. It is now a known fact that by 2031, 36 percent of the state’s population will be over 60 years,” the official said.

The unsettled nature of social justice priorities has also caused welfare asymmetries. At times child-centred schemes like Integrated Child Development Scheme are given prominence but recently issues of women and child welfare have become the dominant concerns. Rarely does old age or disability concerns grip the Department.