Krishna Kutir, a home for 1000 widows inaugurated by Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi and Shri Adityanath Yogi at Vrindavan today

 The Minister for Women & Child Development, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, alongwith Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Adityanath Yogi today inaugurated the widows’ home ‘Krishna Kutir’ at a function at Vrindavan, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh. The Minister for Women Welfare, UP, Prof. Reeta Bahuguna Joshi; Minister for Dharmarth Karya, UP, Shri Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary; and MP from Mathura, Smt Hema Malini were present on the occasion alongwith other dignitaries. Krishna Kutir is a special home for 1000 widows set up by the Ministry of Women & Child Development under Swadhar Greh scheme of the Ministry and is the largest ever facility of its kind created by a government organization.

Speaking on the occasion, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi said that the Vrindavan home will offer shelter and protection to the large number of helpless widows of Vrindavan. An area of 4 acres has now been allocated near the home by the district administration which will be developed into a park and which can be used by the widows of the home, she disclosed.  The WCD Minister further added that widows will be a part of various committees which will be formed to manage the widows’ home. Smt Maneka Gandhi requested the Chief Minister of UP to provide land in Varanasi for a similar facility to be setup by WCD Ministry. Smt Maneka Gandhi offered that WCD is willing to create a large facility in or around Lucknow where all orphaned children, helpless/abandoned  women in need of care and protection can be located in a community atmosphere. She also urged that the Government should inspect the condition of women in jails as well as those living in mental asylums.

Accepting the offer of WCD Minister, the UP Chief Minister, Shri Yogi Adityanath announced that the UP Government will allocate land in Varanasi and Lucknow for construction of shelter homes for women and children as suggested by the WCD Ministry. He said it is the vision of the Prime Minister,  Shri Narendra Modi to provide protection and help to the helpless and those in need of care and protection especially women and children. It is in the pursuit of this goal that the UP Government has become the first State to link the women's helpline 181 to the One Stop Centres and has provided rescue vans for women in distress in every district, the Chief Minister declared.

Secretary WCD, Shri Rakesh Shrivastav said that the WCD Ministry has started the Swadhar Greh scheme to provide such facilities to abandoned and shelter less women. This will not only reduce their difficulties but will also help them live a dignified life with a sense of confidence.

The Home for Widows, Krishna Kutir has been constructed on 1.4 hectare of land through National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) at a cost of 57.48 Crores (including cost of the land) with a capacity of 1000 inmates. It has beautifully made 100 rooms/dormitories. The design of the Home has been prepared in consultation with Helpage India and is old age friendly. It consists of ground plus three floors with the facilities of ramp, lifts, supply of adequate electricity, water and other amenities for meeting the requirement of senior citizens and persons with special challenges. The facility is also equipped with a large modern kitchen and a skill cum training centre. It also has two dispensaries and physiotherapy facility and the inmates will be given regular medical check ups. The construction of the home has been funded by Central Government and will be managed by the Government of Uttar Pradesh. To connect with the netizens, the Ministry of Women & Child Development had launched a month-long contest (Nov-Dec, 2017) on social media, ‘Name the Vrindavan Ashram’. The entry of Ms. Sunita Katyal, Krishna Kutir, was adjudged as the winning entry by the selection committee. Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi had launched the construction of the project in 2016.

The widows’ home has been constructed by the WCD Ministry to mitigate the plight of widows living in pathetic condition in Vrindavan. The Ministry took cognizance of this shocking condition of widows living in Vrindavan who refused to go back to their native place or their home. In order to provide a dignified and humane living conditions to them, the Ministry, as a special case, constructed this Krishna Kutir at the temple town of Vrindavan with all the required facilities.