Rano
VIP
Sirsa, July 7
Though there seems to be little improvement in the skewed sex ratio and incidents of honour killings refuse to stop in the state, efforts to change the mindset of society do come as a silver lining.
The “Beti Bachao Abhiyaan” launched by Additional Deputy Commissioner Pankaj Chaudhary has been sending positive signals in society, where the birth of the girl child is taken as a scourge.
Family members of three newborn girls yesterday celebrated the entry of the new members to their families.
Women members of the family as well as those from the village performed “kuan pujan” ceremonies as a ritual for celebrating the child’s birth.
Nirmala Devi of Kelnia village gave birth to a girl, who has been named Sakshi, and the family celebrated the birth.
Women went to the well singing folk songs rendered during such rituals and offered prayers.
So did the family members of Geeta from Bansudhar, who gave birth to her second girl child and Saroj from the same village, who too gave birth to a girl child.
The “kuan pujan” is performed in the Jat heartland of Haryana, conventionally on the birth of a son.
Tradition has it that praying at the well, the only source of water in olden times and the lifeline of the village, will not only bring good luck for the newborn son, but will also earn the blessings of the God in the process ensuring that the next birth in the family too is a son.
Ever since she has joined as ADC in Sirsa, Pankaj Chaudhary has been relentlessly working for her “Beti Bachao Abhiyan” and has motivated over a dozen families to perform such rituals in her short tenure of four months in Sirsa.
“I tell villagers to treat girls on a par with boys as girls are not behind boys in any field. Rather, girls are outshining boys in academics and other fields,” she said.
Though there seems to be little improvement in the skewed sex ratio and incidents of honour killings refuse to stop in the state, efforts to change the mindset of society do come as a silver lining.
The “Beti Bachao Abhiyaan” launched by Additional Deputy Commissioner Pankaj Chaudhary has been sending positive signals in society, where the birth of the girl child is taken as a scourge.
Family members of three newborn girls yesterday celebrated the entry of the new members to their families.
Women members of the family as well as those from the village performed “kuan pujan” ceremonies as a ritual for celebrating the child’s birth.
Nirmala Devi of Kelnia village gave birth to a girl, who has been named Sakshi, and the family celebrated the birth.
Women went to the well singing folk songs rendered during such rituals and offered prayers.
So did the family members of Geeta from Bansudhar, who gave birth to her second girl child and Saroj from the same village, who too gave birth to a girl child.
The “kuan pujan” is performed in the Jat heartland of Haryana, conventionally on the birth of a son.
Tradition has it that praying at the well, the only source of water in olden times and the lifeline of the village, will not only bring good luck for the newborn son, but will also earn the blessings of the God in the process ensuring that the next birth in the family too is a son.
Ever since she has joined as ADC in Sirsa, Pankaj Chaudhary has been relentlessly working for her “Beti Bachao Abhiyan” and has motivated over a dozen families to perform such rituals in her short tenure of four months in Sirsa.
“I tell villagers to treat girls on a par with boys as girls are not behind boys in any field. Rather, girls are outshining boys in academics and other fields,” she said.
