The small village of Haridaspur in Sangareddy district erupts in joy every time a girl child is born there. Lamps are lit and sweets distributed. What’s more, the village panchayat even opens Sukanya Samriddi Yojana (SSY) accounts in the name of girl children born in Haridaspur — a practice being followed since January 1, 2020. All this is thanks to the efforts of sarpanch Mohd. Shafi and panchayat secretary Rohit Kulkarni to create awareness about gender equality.
The duo was in the spotlight during the International Women’s Day celebrations at Ravindra Bharati here as Tribal and Women Welfare Minister Satyavathi Rathod felicitated them for their initiative and handed over a cheque of ₹1 lakh to continue taking Haridaspur to greater heights.
In the village, which is 80 km from the state capital, SSY accounts have been opened for about 80 girl children with an assistance of ₹50,000 contributed by some philanthropists. The initiative of Haridaspur has inspired several villages to follow the model and celebrate the girl child.
C.S. Rangarajan, priest of Chilkur Balaji temple, visited the village and performed kanyavandanam for all the girl children by washing their feet.
“For the first time, two men are being felicitated on the occasion of International Women’s Day. Both of them are instrumental in creating awareness among the public on the importance girl child. They are celebrating the birth of every girl child in the village,” said Ms. Rathod about ‘Team Haridaspur’ during the felicitation.
