RANCHI: From today onwards, houses at Bharatia village, around 7 kilometers from the district headquarter of Garhwa, will be identified with the names of daughters.
Alarmed with the decreasing sex ratio, the village-panchayat in association with district administration has taken a unique initiative of installing nameplates before their houses in the name of their daughters in order to make people aware about gender equality as the village has one of the worst sex ratios in the state.
Notably, despite the encouraging literacy rate, the sex ratio of Bharatia village is 740 females per 1,000 males, which is much lower than the national average of 943 and the state average of 948.
People who will put nameplates in the name of daughters, a sapling of fruit-bearing trees will also be planted near their houses.
According to the village Mukhiya, out of 113 households, nearly 60 families have already agreed to put nameplates in the name of their daughters, while talks are still on to convince others.
“So far, we have managed to convince nearly 60 families to put nameplates in the names of their daughters while the remaining families could not be convinced with the idea. They said there is no need for the nameplates as they don’t differentiate between a girl and a boy,” said the Madhya Panchayat Mukhia Bindu Devi.
Talks, however, are still on to convince them to become a part of the campaign, she added.
Local villagers also lauded the initiative saying that the move would help convey a positive message among the villagers.
“The move would help convey the right message to the villagers and more people would step forward to give women the respect they deserve,” said Jayant Tiwari.
The move is said to be a result of a campaign launched by the local administration to educate people about the role of womenfolk in society and work for their empowerment. District Education Officer Sanjay Kumar Pandey had been instrumental in mobilizing the villagers.
Though the campaign could also have been launched by the district administration, participation of the villagers is also important to make it a success. Therefore, several rounds of meetings were held with the village head, village representatives, and Mukhia to explain the idea.
“While visiting the area, I observed that the sex ratio of Bharatia village is comparatively low than the national and state average, therefore, I held several rounds of talks with the villagers and Mukhiya seeking their support to deal with this problem and somehow managed to convince them for putting nameplates in the name of their daughters,” said Pandey.
The name of the daughter will be put on the nameplate along with that of her mother, he added.
Pandey said that the ‘Nameplate Campaign’ is just a beginning, as the village women will be now also be encouraged to start a series of campaigns aimed at changing the mentality of the men towards the girl child.
“It’s important that women get due recognition in the society as they tend to lose their identity after getting married. Their names on these plates would give them a sense of confidence and pride,” said Kumar.
Names of the daughters will be written on the nameplate along with the names of their mothers in yellow background. Yellow symbolizes light of hope and energy – while the names will be written with sky blue colour, symbolising the blue horizon. The campaign will be launched on Tuesday by the local MLA and State Drinking Water and Sanitation Minister, Mithilesh Thakur.