Placards identify burqa-clad woman for govt scheme

Officials involved in the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY) are facing a unique problem as many Muslim women beneficiaries of the scheme are insisting on having their pictures clicked only in a burqa.

Beneficiaries, all of whom are women, are allotted an amount of Rs 1.60 lakh to construct a pucca house under the scheme. However, before releasing the payment, the beneficiary's picture has to be taken and uploaded on the PMAY portal along with land details. But in doing so, officials are facing resistance, especially in Muslim-dominated areas.

In Dehradun, Roorkee and Haridwar, for instance, many women have objected to lifting their burqa to have their pictures clicked. After failing to convince the women, officials have now hit upon a novel idea and agreed to have their pictures clicked in a burqa as they stand in front of their respective plots and hold a placard with their name on it.

"We have tried our utmost to convince the women, telling them that having a picture clicked is for their own benefit. But they have resisted, citing cultural compulsions. We faced a similar problem in the hills also as village women, too, are shy but many of them after some persuasion, became ready to have their pictures taken," said Bansidhar Tiwari, chief development officer (CDO), Dehradun.

The PMAY scheme was started last year for people in rural areas who did not have access to pucca houses. The scheme came with a rider that the owner of the house should be a woman family member. This was done to ensure women in poor households got a sense of financial security.A total of 8,120 beneficiaries were chosen under the scheme in Uttarakhand, a majority of them in the three districts of Haridwar (2,649), Udham Singh Nagar (2,411) and Dehradun(1,535). "All the districts have a large population of Muslim households. Many women in these areas are illiterate and are extremely shy to get a picture clicked. Very reluctantly, they agreed to hold a placard with their name but insisted on retaining their burqa," said Tiwari.

Asked if taking such a picture was permissible since it did not reveal the true identity of the woman beneficiary and could lead to fraudulent submissions, an official said, "We take steps to check the identity of the woman before taking the picture. Also, one of our officials stands by the woman in the frame to corroborate that the identity has been cross-checked."

Meanwhile, Haji Suleman, the pradhan of Siwana village in Mehuwala near Dehradun, said the scheme was "a good initiative" but it would have been better had the government been sensitive about issues like 'purdah'. "When they craft schemes which are especially meant for women, these aspects need to be taken into consideration," he added.