State to review Devdasi count

Women and Child Welfare Minister Varsha Gaikwad has proposed a fresh count of Devdasis in the state,following a meeting on Thursday in which several activists pointed out that the ground reality was different from the number projected.

Women and Child Welfare Minister Varsha Gaikwad has proposed a fresh count of Devdasis in the state,following a meeting on Thursday in which several activists pointed out that the ground reality was different from the number projected. Women and Child Welfare department officials maintain that there are only 3,960 Devdasis girls given away to dedicate their lives serving deities in temples on record in the state and that the Maharashtra Devdasi Practices Eradication Rules 2006 had been properly implemented. The officials said there has been no increase in the number.

We have no new registrations (for rehabilitation). So it goes on to say that the Maharashtra Devdasi Practices Eradication Rules 2006 prohibiting the age-old Devdasi tradition has been implemented in letter and spirit, said senior officials from the department. Mantralaya officials said Thursdays meeting had only sought views of activists working in the field of rehabiltation of Devdasis.

The minister said since a low number was cited,the ground reality needs to be put forth. The second meeting will be held in the coming month, said the officials.

The rules have punitive provisions like imprisonment ranging from two to three years and fines from Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000. The state was to have a control board under a judge and district-level Devdasi Practices Control Committees headed by the respective chief judicial magistrate of the district while panels were to be formed in Sangli,Kolhapur,Solapur,Sindhudurg,Usmanabad,Nanded,Latur,Mumbai,Pune and Satara.

The department states that as part of the rehabilitation package,Rs 44 lakh has to be given for rehabilitation of Devdasis. We are doing the distribution phasewise in the state, said department officials.

Activists,particularly from Sangli and Kolhapur, said the state has not taken serious cognizance of the problem. They said the reality was far from the number projected. Even a random survey gives a different picture, said a member of an organisation that works for rehabilitation of Devdasis.

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