‘Give children of single moms degree without dad’s name’

Children of separated or divorced women should be able to get their degrees and caste certificates without having to disclose their fathers’ names in the application forms, Union women and child development (WCD) minister Maneka Gandhi has said.

Gandhi has written to her counterparts in the human resource development (HRD) and social justice and empowerment ministries, requesting a change in guidelines to ensure that divorced women are not denied their rights.

At present, wards of separated or divorced women are required to disclose their fathers’ identities in application forms to avail the degrees and caste certificates.

The move comes close on the heels of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government amending passport rules to do away with an official requirement for single mothers and divorcees to get their husbands’ signature as well as a no-objection certificate while applying for their children’s passport.

“Breakdown of marriage and separation of husband and wife are now a reality that we cannot ignore. But… women in such situations often do not get their rights due to certain loopholes in the procedures/law,” Gandhi said in her letter.

She wrote to Human Resource Development (HRD) minister Prakash Javadekar after receiving several complaints about divorced and separated women facing various problems in obtaining degree certificates for their children without naming their fathers in application forms. She has shot off a similar letter to social justice minister Thawar Chand Gehlot regarding caste certificates.

The WCD minister said she saw no reason to deny divorced women this facility if they didn’t want their children to know about their biological fathers while growing up.

“Keeping in view the (sentiments) of the single/separated mother, we need to make a provision for this purpose by changing the rules/guidelines. I shall be grateful if you would look into this matter for an early resolution,” Gandhi said in her letters.

It was on Gandhi’s request that the ministry of externa affairs had earlier decided to streamline passport norms for single women.

Gandhi, the Union minister for women and child develop ment , took up the matter with foreign affairs minister Sushma Swaraj after Priyanka Gupta, a Delhi-based single mother launched an online campaign against the demand that she dis close her estranged husband’s name while applying for her daughter’s passport.