Alipur village, in Haryana, a state known for its gender prejudices, has decided to set a different example by shedding traditional…
(PHOTO: Getty Images)
Alipur village, in Haryana, a state known for its gender prejudices, has decided to set a different example by shedding traditional practices. In this village, 17 km from Gurgaon on the Sohna road, people have started putting nameplates of their daughters at the main entrances of their houses.
Alipur is one of the five villages (four in Gurgaon and one in Mewat) that have been adopted by President Pranab Mukherjee for making them model villages under the Adarsh Gram Yojana initiative launched last year.
A 2011 census said Alipur has 1,789 males and 1,609 females of the total population. A small village with about 5000 people and 700 houses, most of the residents in village have already changed their nameplates, while many have ordered new ones carrying the names of their daughters or grand-daughters.
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Sarpanch Mamta Dagar after consulting residents of the village took this step under her ‘Lado Swabhiman Utsav’. “People still think that in Haryana birth of a girl is an issue but the situation is totally different nowadays. The thinking of people has changed,” said Dagar.
“Our village is such an example for people who think that Haryana still practices honour killing or is against the birth of a girl. Haryana is growing at a fast rate and residents not only in our village but others have started giving priority to girls,” said Dagar.
She said residents have also started planting saplings in the names of their daughters and grand-daughters. Families who take best care of the saplings will be honoured.
"Girls in the village are excited about this move. Many houses which earlier used to be identified by the man, now have nameplates of their daughters. I too changed the nameplate to that of my daughter Supriya," said Naresh Kumar, a resident in the village.
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