Houses in Jharkhand village to be identified by girl child's name

'Meri Beti, Meri Pehchan' (My daughter, My Identity), a unique initiative under the 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padao' (Save girl, Educate girl) campaign launched by the state government, was kicked off in the village by the East Singhbhum district administration.

Under the initiative, District Public Relations Officer Sanjay Kumar said plates in the name of the girl child of each house will be fixed outside the dwelling units, instead of the head of the family to give impetus to the campaign as well as to motivate girls to get educate.

"The village will become the first one in Jharkhand, which will be identified by the identity of the girl child rather than head of the family," he said.

The campaign would boost self-confidence among girls and help in empowering women, Kumar said, adding the local panchayat pradhan and villagers have agreed to support the cause.

Tiring village is situated 28 km from Jamshedpur and as per the 2011 census, the girl-boy gender ratio in the village was 768 girls per thousand boys, while the girls' literacy rate was 50.6 per cent.

On selection of the village for the campaign, Kumar said the village has 170 families and 50 per cent of the women need to be educated.