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| Militancy raises number of orphans, destitutes | | | Militancy related violence in Jammu and Kashmir is being treated as a gift from Pakistan, and this very gift has raised the number of orphans, widows and destitutes to new heights. The number of orphans, widows and destitutes has gone so up that their rehabilitation has not been possible to the extent people desired and craved for. Despite liberal financial assistance from the state Government and from the Rehabilitation Council of India there has been a wide gap between the quantum of relief and the demand for rehabilitation of orphans, widows and destitutes in Jammu and Kashmir. Official reports indicate that since the rise of militancy related activities and violence in Jammu and Kashmir in 1990 the total number of orphans, widows and destitutes has crossed three lakhs. Hence the task of rehabilitating these widows and orphans has become quite difficult because of paucity of funds. Though the Army has been running about seven orphanages besides a number of private orphanages a large number of widows,destitutes and orphans have to bank on doles from either some Government agencies or from some phi-lanthrophists.
In certain cases widows and even orphans have been forced to resort to begging.In other cases these people of lesser gods have been trying to eke out a living from doing menial jobs. Living has become quite difficult for majority of widows and orphans. The reason being inflation in the prices of essential commodities. Majority of these people of lesser gods feel harrassed and embarrassed when they are not in a position to secure proper medical aid because of the rising cost of medicines, including the life saving drugs. Official reports reveal that orphans and destitute widows pose a huge moral challenge to the people in Jammu and Kashmir. The society has responded through personal and private institutional efforts but the gap between the needs of the unfortunate among us and what has been done so far is still a yawning one. About 100,000 children in Jammu and Kashmir are estimated (by UNICEF) to be orphans. A poor fatherless child under the age of 18 falls in the category of an orphan. Most of the orphans in Jammu and Kashmir are a result of the ongoing conflict. Since there seeems to be no end to the militancy related violence in Jammu and Kashmir people harbour genuine fears about possible further rise in the number of widows and orphans. No doubt the incidents of violence have shown mar ked decline during the last 15 months, still the guntoting youths are active in spilling blood. One needs to appreciate the services being rendered by several orphanages run by groups of people and by some NGOs besides the Army. The task of proper rehabilitation of widows and orphans is quite enormous because of the yearly increase in their number. According to surveys by various government and private agencies, Kupwara district has the highest number of orphans of about 24,000 followed by Anantnag and Budgam with 10,000 each. In the 2007, a survey done by Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) found that in some parts of Kashmir, one in three Kashmiris had lost members of their extended families to the conflict and a similar number had contemplated suicide. And had not scores of orphanages and charitable centres been opened in Jammu and Kashmir widows and destitutes besides the orphans would have been forced to take to illicit trade, including prostitution. The rise in the number of orphans and widows has led to the establishment and increase in the number of charitable centers which help the destitute in the state. There are more than 3,000 registered NGOs and many other unregistered ones which operate in Kashmir but only a few are working for orphans. The Government needs to monitor the working of these charitable institutions and those found doing a genuine work need to be given adequate financial assistance needed for running these centres on a sound footing.
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