Haryana village launches 'Selfie with daughter' contest

Jind (Hr), Jun 12: In a unique initiative to save girl child in Haryana, where the sex ratio has been dismally low, a village panchayat in Jind has started a contest for clicking "selfie with daughter".

Bibipur village panchayat has launched the contest in which parents from across the state have to take selfies with their daughters and send it to village Sarpanch Sunil Jaglan through social messaging app Whatsapp. The best three selfies would be awarded with trophies, certificates and cash prize, the village panchayat declared.

The selfies would be judged by a delegation of 30 women sarpanchs and aanganwadi workers who will be visiting the village from Punjab on June 19. The delegation would be here to learn about the initiatives of the panchayat to prevent female foeticide and to increase the standing of women in society.

"I have received over 100 selfies with daughters from across the state in last three days," Jaglan said. "Usually we don't see many pictures of daughters in people's house here. The objective of the contest is to increase importance of daughters in their homes," he said.

"Clicking selfies is the latest craze, so we decided to hold this contest to encourage parents to take pictures with their daughters," he said, adding that the panchayat is contributing in the "Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao" campaign through it. Haryana is among the bottom five states in terms of sex ratio.

In 2014, the sex ratio at birth was 871, a marginal increase from 868 in 2013. Meanwhile, to mark the birth anniversary of freedom fighter Ram Prasad Bismil, the village panchayat has decided to develop a "Bismil selfie spot" at Lado Sarovar.

The spot is being developed in such a manner that more people can be accommodated in a picture, he added.

PTI