Una child sex ratio improves by 40 pts

Our Correspondent

Una, January 16

Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Rajiv Saizal on Wednesday appreciated the efforts of the Una administration in effective implementation of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign, which has led to an improvement in the district’s child sex ratio by 40 points. 

He was speaking at a district-level training-cum-awareness workshop organised under the “Una Utkarsh” scheme mooted by the district administration to protect the girl child. 

   Saizal said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign in January 2015. As many as 100 districts of the country having the least child sex ratio were covered. Una was the only district of the state which was included in the campaign with the child sex ratio of 875 females as compared to 1,000 males less than six years of age. 

Saizal said the district administration had launched a number of initiatives for the promotion of the girl child and to change the social mindset, Many of these would be replicated by the government in other parts of the state. 

As per the recent survey conducted by the Social Justice and Empowerment Department, the child sex ratio in the district had improved to 915 females as compared to 1,000 males. 

Speaking about the initiatives, Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Prajapati said 5,000 families having only daughters were identified and DC cards were issued to them. This entitled the family to priority in development works by various departments. 

The minister said the “Mere gaon ki beti-meri shaan” plan had been launched under which girls excelling in academics or getting admissions in top 100 colleges of the country, besides professional colleges in the state on merit basis, were being honoured and given financial assistance. 

Prajapati said as part of the social campaign, shopkeepers in many villages had renamed their establishments after their daughters and put up name plates of the senior most female member in front of their houses. 

The Chintpurni Temple Trust had also chipped in with financial sops to families having only daughters, besides providing assistance for the marriage of girls belonging to underprivileged families.

Later, the minister gave away DC cards to some families that have been included in the initiative recently. He honoured girl toppers of the State School Education Board and Himachal Pradesh University. Boards with their photographs and achievements are being put up in their home panchayat bhawans and the local village school. The minister said the administration had targeted to improve the child sex ratio to 950 in the coming year.   

BJP state president Satpal Singh Satti, Chintpurni MLA Balbir Chaudhary, vice-chairman of the HP State Industries Development Corporation Ram Kumar Sharma and District Programme Officer, Women and Child Welfare Department, Satnam Singh were present.