Bhiwani sarpanch lifts 'ghoonghat' to usher in development

A woman sarpanch in 'ghoonghat' was initially shying away from a meeting held by the Bhiwani Deputy Commissioner during the administration’s night stay in Dhani Beeran village. However, when the DC assured all-round development of the village on a condition that the sarpanch removed her veil, she did so. She received full support from the entire village.

The night halt programme was organised by the district administration in Dhani Beeran village of Bhiwani’s Tosham subdivision last night. During the programme, DC Mahavir Kaushik listened to villagers' grievances and asked the village sarpanch to cooperate with him. Upon this, sarpanch’s husband Rajbir Singh got up and raised the issues related to the villagers.

When the DC asked whether he was sarpanch, he explained that his wife Kavita Devi was not comfortable in interacting in a gathering as she has been in a 'ghoonghat' as per the traditions of the village. The DC insisted that only the actual sarpanch should speak. It was revealed that sarpanch Kavita Devi is educated and has got junior basic teacher training course done.

DC Kaushik proposed to the villagers that if the villagers pledged to end the practice of 'ghoonghat' and the sarpanch stepped out without the veil, he would ensure all their issues were resolved, even if it required intervention from the Chief Minister himself.

SDM Ashvir Nain who was present in the meeting informed that responding to the DC’s appeal, Kavita Devi lifted her veil in the meeting which apparently sent a powerful message to women representatives across the country to end the age-old practice of 'ghoonghat' (veil).

“Devi immediately removed her veil, came forward, and assured full support in ending the veil practice across the village. All villagers present raised their hands in support of this step and pledged to treat their daughters-in-law like their own daughters, committing to abolish the veil tradition. The initiative was warmly applauded by officials and villagers alike”, Nain said.

During the night halt, the villagers raised several demands, including renaming Dhani Beeran as Dhani Bajina, ensuring adequate drinking water supply, constructing a retaining wall for the village pond, providing sports equipment for youth, starting morning and evening bus services and establishing an e-library.

Notably, following the instructions of Chief Minister Nayab Singh, district administration teams have been organising night stay programmes across villages to hear and resolve local issues on the spot and it happened to be the turn of Dhani Beeran last night.