Fathers who are divorced from their wives should get a fair share in the upbringing of their children and not just be granted visitation rights which last only two hours, Equal Equanimous Shared Parenting (EESP), a nationwide association of non- custodian parents, has said.
Dedicated to the cause of children’s rights, the organisation cited a survey conducted by them which found that children of divorced parents also want to spend time with their estranged fathers. “There are 200 fathers in Pune under the group Save Indian Family (SIF) - Pune, which is part of EESP, who are fighting for their rights to spend time with their children,” said Tejsing Gaikwad.
He was addressing a press conference on Friday to announce a gathering of fathers on the occasion of Father’s Day on Sunday, at the Vipssanaa Centre, Swargate, starting 10 am onwards.
{{/usCountry}}He was addressing a press conference on Friday to announce a gathering of fathers on the occasion of Father’s Day on Sunday, at the Vipssanaa Centre, Swargate, starting 10 am onwards.
{{/usCountry}}Gaikwad said that a discreetly conducted survey with 350 children in the country last year found that 98 per cent of the children were not aware of why their parents don’t live together; 85 per cent were substantially alienated from their father and the paternal family; and only 2 per cent of the fathers had custody of their children.
Having equal visitation rights and spending time with children is the foremost concern of many of such fathers. “We feel that simply spending two hours with our children is not helping our issue; in fact it is alienating us more. The children could be at risk of emotional and behavioural problems or feel neglected, hence we think shared parenting could help better our children’s lives,” said Manoj Soni, one of the parent present.
This also affects their life and through the survey, it was found that 100 per cent of the children hate to live with any single parent and that they want open access, and no restrictions quality time with both equally divided time.
The group has appealed to the Family Court to rethink father’s rights. They had earlier in 2016 staged a satyagraha on shared parenting until chief minister Devendra Fadanvis intervened.