Transforming from a young and vulnerable widow to the leader of the single women's movement in Himachal Pradesh, the narrative of 59-year-old Nirmal Chandel will be included in the Coffee Table Book published by UN Women, India. A communication from the UN Women, India Country office to Chandel informed her that her story has been chosen as one of the featured stories among the 75 impactful narratives on women leaders in the Coffee Table book, set to launch in March 2024.
"It is a recognition for the tireless efforts of Ekal Nari Shakti Sangathan (ENSS), which has worked for the dignity of single women, including widows, divorcees, deserted, and unmarried women in the rural hill state of Himachal Pradesh," Chandel shared in an interview with News Arena Network in Shimla during a two-day state meeting of ENSS earlier this week.
Chandel, educated till class 12th, is the State Convener of the Ekal Nari Shakti Sangathan, based in Jagit Nagar near Kasauli in Solan district. She launched ENSS with nearly 100 members in 2005, and it now boasts over 18,000 single women associated with it. She is presently heading the Rashtriya Ekal Nari Adikar Manch.
Chandel had previously been honoured by NITI Aayog for her role as a game-changer for single women in Himachal Pradesh. She was also invited to the University of Edinburgh to lecture on her meaningful journey of leadership for single women, though she couldn't attend later for personal reasons.
"When I lost my husband at 23, just two years after my marriage, I thought it was all over for me. I contemplated ending my life as the taboo-ridden society of rural Himachal was so discouraging. But life carved out a different role for me, and here I am, working 24X7 for single women. ENSS now has an identity at the national and international levels," she said.
Chandel shared that she emerged from the darkness surrounding young widows in traditional hill villages after one year and got connected with the Social Uplift Through Rural Action (SUTRA), an NGO, in Jagjit Nagar through an acquaintance.
She worked as an accountant on a meagre salary of Rs 550 per month in SUTRA. However, the exposure at SUTRA, headed by Director Subhash Medhapurkar, helped Chandel gain confidence in life. Several years later, in 2005, she was sent to attend a meeting of single women in Rajasthan, which became her turning point.
Chandel mentioned that initially, when she was assigned to work on the issues of single women in SUTRA, she felt bad for a moment, thinking she was given this task because she was a widow. "However, when I started working, I came across several single women, poor and jobless widows, divorcees, and deserted women, and realised that each one of them had a similar story of distress. Once the women are widowed in hill villages, they are usually left to themselves, denied the property and are made to struggle for survival with kids.
Such little-educated poor single women did not have the influence or money to fight divorce cases even. This sensitised me, and I made up my mind to do something for them, as I could identify myself with all of them," Chandel said.
For 19 years, she has been working tirelessly for needy single women in Himachal Pradesh in different spheres. ENSS has influenced government policies to recognize single women as an independent identity for benefits in various government schemes, such as social security pension, health insurance, and even education for the children of widows. ENSS also intervenes quite often to solve domestic violence cases in villages, which are on the rise, Chandel added.
"People used to look down upon single women and discourage them in government offices when we launched the Ekal Nari Shakti Sangathan (ENSS). After a collective fight for many years, the government has also started recognising us. Single women are so confident now and can talk about their rights freely, and they get a good response everywhere," she said.
Chandel mentioned two immediate agenda items for ENSS in Himachal Pradesh. "The first one is to get an identity for deserted women (who are not divorcees but are made to live separately from husbands) so that they also get due benefits from government schemes as a matter of right.
The other categories of single women do get benefits, but the status of deserted women has not been defined, so they are not covered in schemes as single women. The second one is to urge the government to grant ENSS some land on lease for capacity building of poor single women to help them make both ends meet," she said.
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