Tarn Taran district to be feted for good show in Beti Bachao Beti Padhao

PM MODI TO GIVE AWARD ON MARCH 8 FOR EXCELLENCE IN FIELD OF ENGAGEMENT

OF THE COMMUNITY

TARN TARAN : Located next to the border with Pakistan, Tarn Taran has been selected for felicitation as one of the country’s top 10 districts on the count of effective community engagement in implementing Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme for gender equality.

The other two counts on which 10 districts each will be honoured are prohibition of foetus sex selection and engaging the girl child, said district programme officer (DPO) Hardeep Kaur. Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi will honour deputy commissioner Pardeep Kumar Sabharwal at the celebration of third anniversary of BBBP, in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, March 8. Jhunjhunu is also one of the awardee districts. A letter from Ashok Kumar Yadav, deputy secretary in the Union ministry of women and child development, has communicated this to the DC.

DPS Kharbanda, who also remained DC of Tarn Taran till June last year, said sex ratio of the district was around 840 girls to every 1,000 boys, while the average for the country was 940. “I was astonished at this. I wrote to gurdwaras and temples to help make people aware during their early morning prayers,” he said, noting that the ratio was now over 900.

Incumbent DC Sabharwal said a task force was constituted under his chairmanship and a calendar of activities was prepared for spreading awareness.

He listed activities: “Awareness rallies, door-todoor campaign, community meetings, oath taking, signature campaign, tree plantation in the name of girl child and women achievers, pasting of stickers (bearing BBBP logos), Women’s Day celebrations, Lohri celebrations for girls, and felicitation of parents were taken up at all levels.”

“We also used social media for sensitising people,” he added.

SONEPAT PICKED TOO

ROHTAK: Haryana’s Sonepat district is among the 10 districts of the country that will be awarded for showing exemplary performance in implementing the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme, for curbing foeticide by enforcement of Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act. A spokesperson for the administration said they carried 21 raids at various ultraspound centres in Delhi and UP since the launch of the scheme. All the raids were decoybased wherein GPS system and innovative techniques were used.

The district had achieved the sex ratio at birth of 935 during 2017 and it rose to 1,000 for January, 2018.