A proposal come from the Women and Child Development Ministry which has been said that the children of single mothers can apply for a PAN card without mentioning their father’s name. The move has been launched and started by the women’s activists and the national commission for women.
According to a report of the Zee Business report, Maneka Gandhi, the WCD Minister, had written to Piyush Goyal, the interim Finance Minister, for suggesting that kids of separated or divorced women or those adopted by single mothers must be given the option of dropping the father’s name in order to save those kids from being embarrassed.
In her the 6th July’s letter to Goyal, the WCD minister had said, “Keeping in view the sensitivity of such single mothers, it is important to give them the option of not having to mention the names of their ex-husbands on the statuary applications before different government authorities.”
“Besides this, single women are also adopting children and my ministry is giving priority for such cases. In such cases, there is no father of the child whose PAN number is being requested for,” she added.
Lauding the proposal, Rekha Sharma, the National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson, said it should have been implemented earlier which is very vital part of the women empowerment issues of the country and this will be also empower women in the whole nation, nationwide.
“It is something that is very progressive and should have probably been done earlier, but thinking about it now is also a very good decision,” said Sharma. “Women need not identify themselves with a man and it is a welcome move that will empower them,” she added.
Annie Raja, the Senior CPI leader and social activist also applauded the proposal. “It will help many children who unnecessarily face hurdles in getting their PAN card made,” she said.
The Permanent Account Number (PAN) card is a unique ten-digit alphanumeric identity that the Income Tax department allots to each taxpayer. at present, it is compulsory for an applicant to mention the name of his/her father in order to applying for the card, which is also consider as the identity proof.
Mariam Dhawale, the Woman rights activist, said that if Gandhi’s suggestion was implemented, it will resolve a lot of issues that are facing by the single women in India. “It would prevent obstructions by men who generally create hurdles,” she said.
The Director at the Centre for Social Research, Ranjana Kumari, said there should be an option to mention any one of the parents’ name in the application form so that procedure will be turn to be easy for all applicants and for the all single mothers.
