The district administration of Garhwal region in Uttarakhand has announced a programme called ‘Ghaur ki Pachyan, Nauni Ku Nau’ (Identity of the house, in the name of the daughter) through which the houses could be named after the women of the family.
The main objective of the government behind this is to create awareness about gender rights and property ownership among women and their families.
As part of the programme, the nameplate at the house’s door would display the name of the daughter of the house. The Uttarakhand region holds a healthy sex ratio of 1,103 women to every 1,000 men. But the child sex ratio (0-6 years) in the region indicates the gender discrimination which is still prevalent in the state.
The present-day child sex ratio stands at 904, which is way below the state average of 963.
For implementing the programme, the administration has distributed nameplates to over 150 houses in three villages in Khirsu, Pauri and Yamkeshwar blocks. With this, it has encouraged families to display the names of their women members outside their homes.
According to the District Chief Development Officer (CDO) Ashish Bhatgain, the programme initially started under the Centre’s famous ‘Beti Bachao Beti padhao’ initiative.
Aarti, a 21-year- old whose house bears a nameplate after her name feels happy to see her name outside the house. Her mother, Shobha is also joyous to name the house after her daughter.
The chairperson of Uttarakhand State Commission for Women, Vijaya Barthwal says that women don’t claim their ancestral property and leave it to their male siblings. It is expected that this programme would elevate a woman’s status in the family and within society.
