As the country celebrated Republic Day on Wednesday, an event that unfolded at Shivannagudem panchayat in Kondapur mandal to commemmorate the day, stood as an inspiration for other villages.
Following the example set by Haridaspur village of the same mandal in Sangareddy district, on the occasion of Republic Day, the panchayat of Shivannagudem celebrated the birth of girl children. As many as 37 girls in the village aged below 10 years were identified and Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) accounts were opened in their names at Sangareddy district headquarters post-office. L. Gopal Reddy, a resident of Pashamylaram, came forward to extend financial assistance to open these deposits. Mr. Gopal Reddy also promised to donate ₹ 5,000 to every girl child born in his village from now on.
Earlier, Haridaspur village, with the active participation of Sarpanch Shafi and Panchayat Secretary Rohit Kulkarni, started celebrating the birth of girl children as a festival, which got nationwide attention. This was started on January 1, 2020 and as on date SSY accounts have been opened for 85 girl children in the village. Yeddumylaram in Kandi mandal followed suit and has opened accounts for as many as 75 girl children.
Now Shivannagudem has joined the list of villages that began with Haridaspur.
As part of Republic Day celebrations, SSY account passbooks were handed over to mothers of girl children by District Rural Development Officer Ch. Srinivas Rao, Sarpanch Nenavath Hamnamma and others. Youth leader Vinod, panchyat secretary Dinesh, assistant project officer Praveen and others were present.
“The villagers have recognised the importance of the girl child and have decided to follow the tradition initiated by Haridaspur. We feel proud that someone is following us,” Mr. Rohit Kulkarni told The Hindu.
