The Hindu Business Line : <I>Yeh tera ghar yeh mera ghar </I>

More than 80 per cent of the houses in the villages of Purandar taluka in Maharashtra are registered jointly in the names of couples, thanks to the spirited efforts of an NGO.

A range of emotions flitted through Asha Jadhav when she stared at the piece of paper her husband handed her in March 2005. There, listed as a co-owner of the house, was her name.

Asha, mother of three children, says proudly, "It is an acknowledgement of the fact that a woman has a right too. Her domain is not confined to the kitchen and children."

The moment was no less emotional for her husband, Gunshekhar Jadhav, who set a personal example in his village for the joint registration. The couple became the first in Parinche village, Purandar taluka in the Pune district of Maharashtra, to translate a government policy from paper to reality. And Jadhav, a social worker, who piloted the campaign in the entire taluka on behalf of an NGO, Mahila Sarvangeen Utkarsha Mandal (MASUM), is justifiably happy at the results.

More than 80 per cent of houses in all 80 villages in Purandar are registered jointly in the names of couples. The origins of this initiative lie in a November 2003 Government resolution that instructed all panchayats to register residential property jointly in the names of husband and wife. The document would have remained tucked in the maze of official documents had it not been for an interesting collaboration between MASUM and the local government in Purandar taluka.

"Often, after a man's death, his wife has to wade through many difficulties to remain in the house that is actually hers, but not on paper. This problem can be solved if the house is jointly registered," says Gopal Gajanan Kadam, the sarpanch of Sattalwadi panchayat, another village in Purandar.

Adds Pratibha Jadhav, sarpanch of Parinche panchayat, "Pick up any (property) ownership document and you will find a man's name. Now, women feel happy that there is at least one legal document on which their names are registered. This is important not just for her self-esteem but also for her security. No one will be able to throw her out of the house — not even her husband."

As Manisha Gupte, co-convenor of MASUM, says, "The link between women's property rights and domestic violence has been established in various studies from states such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Domestic violence is considerably lower when women have property rights. This is a step in that direction."

An observation endorsed by social activists and women themselves. "It gives a sense of security. Now, there is no fear. No one can ask us to get out of the house. The very fact that the woman has a right to that house will act as a deterrent. This is particularly important in the case of wives of alcoholics who get thrown out of the house in the middle of the night because they oppose their husbands' drinking," says Sulbha Jadhav from Parinche village.

Most villagers in the area belong to the Jadhav community and are involved in farming. Adds another villager Pushpa Jadhav, "Often, the fear of being rendered homeless prevents women from opposing their errant husbands. Many do not even know that their houses have been mortgaged. Now, they will have some control over the process." Both Pushpa and Sulbha played a major role in spreading awareness about the measure and made repeated trips with women to the panchayat office to register the names. Incidentally, both these women do not directly benefit from this move, since they live in a joint family and the house is registered in their father-in-law's name. However, they got their mother-in-law's name included.

"The panchayat members joked that as daughters-in-law, we should not be keen on our mother-in-law's rights. Our response was that we were interested precisely because of that. After all, they are women too." Manisha Buddhiwant, who works with MASUM, sums up the oft-repeated sentiment: "A woman is born in her father's house, goes to her husband's house and dies in her son's house. She has nothing in her name. Now she will get her due."

While welcoming the move, villagers and panchayat members say that it was the awareness campaign that revved up the machinery for joint registration. "Government resolutions are confined to paper as information rarely percolates to the people it is meant for. But this campaign brought it to people," says Sulbha. Dr Ramesh Awasthi, co-convenor of MASUM, says that when they decided to spread awareness about the 2003 government resolution, they teamed up with the local government machinery.

Praising the Block Development Officer Sanjay Chillal for his initiative and interest, MASUM activists say the yearlong campaign, `Ghar Doganche' (couple's house) started in March 2005.

"We distributed pamphlets, put up posters and launched a door-to-door campaign to spread the message," says Gunshekhar Jadhav. A team of 20 young volunteers — who formed two groups — assisted activists and, for over a fortnight, fanned out to the villages from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Says volunteer Savita Bhonsle, "I was a bit apprehensive about reaching out to people who are twice or thrice my age, but the women's overwhelming response allayed those fears." She admits some men were hostile and argued that they would be `thrown out' by their wives if the property was jointly registered.

"Our response was that we are talking about equal rights and no one can throw out the other," says the second-year BA student. Two other volunteers, Sachin and Jaywant Jadhav, recall that in many of the villages, women expressed the view that the joint registration should extend to agricultural land too.

Picture by Bhagya Prakash K.

Women's Feature Service

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