The picturesque and often stunning vistas of the Himalayas as seen from the Pauri Garhwal region of Uttarakhand are great for the tourists and tourist brochures. But they do not tell the full story. The story here is getting a proper closure now, with the recognition and empowerment of young women.
A three-month-old initiative taken under the ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ scheme has already created a buzz in the Pauri Garhwal district and people are excited to participate in it. In an exclusive interview with Indian Masterminds, Mr. Dheeraj Singh Garbyal, District Magistrate disclosed how the administration had started changing the mindset of people, and is spreading awareness about the rights of a girl child.
‘Ghor Ki Pachhyan Noni Ki Nou’ (the identity of the household in the name of the daughter) is another unique initiative taken by the district administration which is creating equal value for a girl child with no gender discrimination.
NAMEPLATES FOR THE DAUGHTERS
In a first of kind initiative, the district administration started the concept of providing name plates bearing the name of the girl in the family. This nameplate is prominently displayed on the entrance of the house. Mr. Garbyal said, “The objective of the initiative is to empower the girl child in the family and change the social mindset and discriminatory mentality of people.”
Up till now, over 300 families belonging from Khirsu, Pauri, Kot, Yamkeshwar, and Kaljikhal block in the district have got these nameplates. Mr. Garbyal said, “The Pauri Garhwal district administration is picking one block after another and will implement this initiative in all 15 blocks.”
Chief Development Officer (CDO) Mr. Ashish Bhatgain told Indian Masterminds, “This idea was to be carried out when I had my posting in Tehri, but soon I was transferred in Pauri district and after Mr. Garbyal gave a go ahead, we implemented the initiative here.”
He added, “All the expenses of making these nameplates are borne by the administration with the help of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) fund and the funds received from ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padao’ scheme.”
ISSUES IN THE HILLS
There are pros and cons of living a life in the mountains. It’s true for Uttarakhand too. Apart from having scenic mountain peaks and valleys, the district deals with issues like migration and child gender discrimination.
As Mr. Garbyal said, “The first reason for the discriminatory behavior is the unavailability of employment opportunities in the district, due to which people head on to different cities and towns. Secondly, students seeking good education in better schools and colleges migrate to other areas. According to the census which happened last in 2011, Pauri and Almora were the two district which saw a negative population growth, Pauri being the lowest with minus 1.41 percent. However, due to the Covid pandemic many migrants have returned back home.”
Other than that, the sex ratio in the district is 1103 females for every 1000 males as per census 2011. Despite having a healthy sex ratio, the district has seen a low child sex ratio of 904 which is below the state average of 963. This becomes an indicator of early gender discrimination in the district. To prevent this, the administration has taken various steps in bringing equality among all genders.
ARMY EXPOSURE FOR SCHOOL GIRLS
Appearing for the class 12 board exams is a crucial time for every student, as they have to pick up a stream of their choice. Therefore, Mr Garbyal started a programme under which the administration picked 20 interested girls from each block of the district and sent them to the Garhwal Regiment for an exposure to the army life.
Mr. Garbyal said, “We started this initiative last year. The main purpose of it was to attract them towards opting for a career in the army. For this, they are being provided the much-needed exposure.”
During the training period, the girl students get familiar with various equipment used by the army, such as folding ladders, baiters, crampons, rock hammers, and ice pitons, etc. They learned about the usage of these types of equipment in different scenarios.
From practicing shooting with different weapons to rock climbing training and setting up camps, the young girls had a one of a kind experience in the Garhwal Regiment.
THE PARAGLIDING COURSE
In yet another initiative taken by the DM, twelve people from the district were sent to an institute of Himachal Pradesh’s Bir and Billing to pursue a course in Paragliding. This group included three girls.
Mr. Garbyal said, “This initiative was taken to empower young girls in adventurous sports so that they can choose it as a profession.’’
All these three girls are now trained and will be further sent to pursue an advanced course. After that, they will be in a position to teach paragliding to the other people of the Pauri Garhwal district.
