RAIPUR: As elsewhere, women officers are not in plenty in Chhattisgarh. The picture, however, is different in Mungeli district, where an unusual official hierarchy has paved the way for women to occupy top positions. The decision to let women run the district was taken by the state in March 2016. After a year, there is a noticeable difference in the district’s women. Mungeli, around 120 km from state capital, has a population of 7.02 lakh and sex ratio of 974:1000.
The commissioner, SP, collector, ASP, DFO, CEO, district panchayat, chief municipal officer, assistant tribal commissioner, labour officer, district commandant and town inspector are all women. The impact could be gauged by their increased confidence.
The encouraging presence of girls in schools and higher institutions has made them aware of the importance of health and hygiene. The average attendance of girls rose from 80 per cent in May 2016 to 98 per cent in November 2016. The enrolment of girl students outnumbered the boys during 2016-17, for instance—in Class I as against the 2.93 boys there were 5.67 girls.
Two per cent more girls continued to be retained in schools compared to as against 2015-16. “Menstrual cycle is no more a taboo for rural girls and they have started attending school even during their periods. Cases of anaemic girls have also dropped,” collector Kiran Kaushal said.
The attendance of school girls has gone up from 78 percent to 89 percent this year. The administration claimed that attendance of Classes IX-XII has touched 97 per cent. For the first time under the adult literacy 1,378 women passed Class V and VIII.
“The practice of Tohni—an inhuman act directed towards inflicting atrocities on women— has been curbed”, Mungeli SP Neethu Kamal said. With Mitanin (community health workers at village level) opening 149 health centres across the district, the institutional delivery that was 52 per cent in March 2016 has crossed 80 per cent in December last