Next time you come to district Una in Himachal Pradesh, big hoardings will greet you.

But these do not display the achievements of the state government or politicians in power. These billboards glorify the accomplishments of ‘Una ki betiyaan’ (daughters of Una), saying “Hamein tum par garv hai”(We are proud of you).

The objective is to motivate the people in this border district (adjoining Punjab) save girl child, especially as Una had shown the lowest child sex ratio of 875 females per thousand males compared with state’s 909 girls per thousand boys in 2011 census.

Five such hoardings with a mention of five daughters Una, including two IPS, an army captain and two civil judges along with their photographs, have already been put up at different locations by the district administration. Twenty more would dot the highway and the inner roads within next few days.

“It is another step towards Beti Bachao Beti Padao campaign. We want to show case the achievement of girls from Una, who have done it big in different fields for inspirational effect on others. We have decided to put up such hoardings at places like hospitals, which are visited by mothers, at DC office and other crowded places for maximum effect,” Vikas Labroo, Deputy Commissioner, Una told The Statesman.

It‘s another first by the district in the state and probably the country, which recently took the lead in introducing a caller tune to hammer the message to save girl child.

“When I called up the five girls about the Hoardings, they were all elated.   I have now told each of them to send a video clip of theirs for projection with their message on WhatsApp. We will play those video clips in some specific areas with skewed sex ratio for an impact,” the DC said.

“I have told all the daughters in Una to secure a place on hoarding with their extraordinary accomplishment and set an example for others. We are also planning a cash reward for such girls. After all, the Hoardings can’t be static and they will keep changing as more girls make it big,” Labroo added.

In general, the incidence of female foeticide is very high in Una district as the illegal ultra sound clinics allegedly run freely in the border belt of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, which escapes the eye of authorities in the two states.

Twenty-five Panchayats in Una had particularly shown a dip in the child sex ratio to less than 500 females per thousand males a couple of years back, which had alarmed the state government and even the National Human Rights Commission.

Lot of effort has put in the Beti Bachao Beti Padao campaign in Una district over the past months. The recently concluded Sonbhadra festival in the area too focused on the theme of save girl child.