The set of recommendations, reviewed by HT, moot changes in the 1956 Hindu and Guardianship Act and asks that mothers be considered the default legal guardian in cases where the woman has been deserted by the husband or divorced.
The National Commission for Women has recommended to the Union ministry of women and child development a review of the Indian child guardianship laws in order to ensure that women, especially rape survivors and single mothers, are not discriminated against, HT has learnt.
The set of recommendations, reviewed by HT, moot changes in the 1956 Hindu and Guardianship Act and asks that mothers be considered the default legal guardian in cases where the woman has been deserted by the husband or divorced.
The quasi-judicial body also recommended that while rape survivors are automatically considered the legal guardian of any children born after the crime, the father should share parenting responsibilities.
Currently, if a child is born of wedded parents, the father is considered the natural guardian and if the child is born out of wedlock, the mother is seen to the natural guardian. But the NCW has recommended the mother should be declared natural guardian in conventional cases. In the case of children born out of wedlock, the body recommended that the law make the father equally responsible for the child’s upbringing.