Woman’s financial empowerment is a path to a stronger society: Justice Nagarathna

Justice Nagarathna stresses financial empowerment of married women in India for their security and societal stability, urging men to provide for their wives.

New Delhi: In a compelling post-script to the Supreme Court ruling on the rights of Muslim women to alimony, justice BV Nagarathna underscored the crucial need for financial stability and empowerment of married women in India.

A file photo of Justice BV Nagarathna. (File)

Highlighting the vulnerability of women who lack independent sources of income and access to financial resources, particularly for their personal expenses, the judge emphasised the urgent need for change so that the services and sacrifices of homemakers for the economic well-being of the family, and the economy of the nation, are duly acknowledged.

“I would like to advert to the vulnerability of married women in India who do not have an independent source of income or who do not have access to monetary resources in their households, particularly for their personal expenses,” justice Nagarathna wrote. She stressed that Indian married men must become conscious of the fact that they have to financially empower and provide for their wives, who do not have an independent source of income. “Such financial empowerment would place such a vulnerable wife in a more secure position in the family,” the judge said.

Justice Nagarathna called for the acknowledgment of Indian men who are already conscious of this responsibility and make their financial resources available for their spouses’ personal expenses, possibly through joint bank accounts or ATM cards.

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“Both ‘financial security’ as well as ‘security of residence’ of Indian women have to be protected and enhanced...that would truly empower such Indian women who are referred to as ‘homemakers’ and who are the strength and backbone of an Indian family, which is the fundamental unit of Indian society that has to be maintained and strengthened,” she asserted.

The judge further elaborated on the broader societal impact of financially empowering women, noting that a stable and emotionally connected family is crucial for societal stability.

“It goes without saying that a stable family which is emotionally connected and secure gives stability to society, for it is within the family that precious values of life are learnt and built,” said justice Nagarathna, adding it is these moral and ethical values which are inherited by a succeeding generation which would go a long way in building a strong Indian society which is the need of the hour.