MARD to honour ‘ideal’ bahus, set up ministry for men

LUCKNOW: If you’re an ideal daughter-in-law and have been caring for your family selflessly and with devotion, here’s an incentive. You may get a badge of honour for being an ideal daughter-in-law, that too with your mother-in-law’s recommendation. An this is no hokum — it’s a MARD’s word.

Mera Adhikar

Rashtriya Dal

(MARD), a political party pushing for ‘gender neutral’ laws to curb suppression of men, released its manifesto for

Lok Sabha

elections on Saturday.

MARD general secretary Kapil Mohan Chowdhary said that the party would honour women who live peacefully in their matrimonial home and dutifully raise a family with a ‘Prashasti Patra’ (certificate of honour) but only after confirming with their mother-in-laws. “We want to encourage women who look after their in-laws, sometimes even after their husband’s death. We often see cases where families face false dowry case charges. In such times, we want to encourage women who look after their in-laws well. We plan to honour such daughters-in-law,” he added. MARD’s manifesto says that it would set up a separate ministry for men and a data centre on the health, security and exploitation of men.

Addressing mediapersons, Chowdhary, who will contest from Lucknow, said, “If a woman faces any kind of harassment, she can approach National Commission for Women or the Union ministry of women and child development. However, there are no such bodies for men.”

The party also plans giving income tax rebate to divorced men paying alimony and day care centres for children living separately from their parents in marital dispute.