Name of father not compulsory for Devdasis' children: Karnataka

BENGALURU: The Karnataka government on Thursday agreed to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights’ recommendation on not asking children of Devdasis for the name of their father.

The Commission has taken a decision that the name of mother is final for the children. It has been decided to take the name of only the mother for school admissions, in applications for caste, income certificates and also for any other documents.

There are about 45,000 children in Karnataka who are born to Devdasi women according to official figures. There were complaints of harassment, force, and rejection by applications by the authorities over the name of the father.

Now, the name of father has been made optional for the children of Devdasi women.

Women and Child Development Minister Halappa Achar had earlier stated that the government had taken a decision to issue an order striking off the rule that mentioning the name of father is compulsory for Devadasi children.

The issue of Devdasi women and their children not able to get government facilities against the backdrop of rejection of their applications without the name of their father was also discussued.

The Women and Child Development Ministry has also taken measures to include 12,000 names of Devdasis who were left out from the list in the survey.

The Raajya Devadasi Mahileyara Vimochana Sangha and the Raajya Devadasi Mahileyara Makkala Horata Samihi have launched a joint struggle for a decade in this regard.