Kajal Devi, a young widow of 21 years, approached Central District Legal Services Authority seeking compensation in a motor vehicle accident case. She came from a financially backward family of Jharkhand and was compelled to give up education after school. At the age of 18, she was married off to an auto driver, Ranjeet Singh@Ranju. Her real trials began after her husband died in a hit and run case in the Capital city in 2018. After the death of Ranju, her in-laws had no means of subsistence and she was left alone in a society where widowhood is a curse. In 2018, CDLSA awarded final compensation of Rs.3,00,000/ to her as per the provisions of Victim Compensation Scheme, 2018 in the form of FDRs. In 2021, Kajal applied for premature withdrawal of compensation FDRs for starting business of readymade garments business in Jharkhand. After considering the application, The Secretary, CDLSA, Ms. Neeti Suri Mishra personally interacted with Kajal and directed to release 3/4th amount of the compensation immediately. However, considering the young age of Kajal, the Secretary advised her to continue education and made her understand that alone monetary compensation would not suffice. In order to lead a meaningful life, she must join a college to complete education, get a government job and re-marry, if she wishes so. However, Kajal was scared to undergo any educational programme and re-marry due to widowhood taboos in her society. After an hour-long conversation with Secretary, Kajal agreed to take up an under-graduate course in textile field alongside her business. To take this young woman out of the darkness, the Secretary explained to her the importance of education and how it can open up doors to a better future and restore her social competence. The Secretary further advised her to utilize the compensation money for future contingencies and not to spend whole of money instantly. Office of CDLSA went a step ahead to help this young woman by getting in touch with the Ld. Secretary of Jharkhand High Court Legal Services Committee, Sh. Santosh Kumar to provide necessary assistance to Kajal in seeking college admission. Sh. Kumar was very supportive and reassured that Kajal would get due assistance from his office.
_Kajal is now waiting for this year’s admission process to start so that she can attend college while continuing her healing journey. Amid these daily tragedies of life, CDLSA Office attempts to give glimpses of hope to the people.