In all of the desolate, dreary corners of Varanasi, of which there are many, the worst are occupied by a community of women who everyone seems to have forgotten about. The widows of Varanasi may be 38,000 in number but they seem to have all got lost in the narrow lanes of the city, in hidden ashrams, far away from the minds of the policymakers. So when NDTV set out to look for them in the Prime Minister's constituency amidst talk that PM Narendra Modi may come up with a plan to have skill development among the younger widows, we discovered the state of neglect that they have been left to wither in. The local administration, instructed by the Prime Minister's Office, has identified a small group of about 5,000 of them that are under 40 who may get training from the UK based Loomba foundation.
