Himchal Pradesh: Houses in Una Village Use Women’s Name On Nameplates To Counter Gender Discrimination

A village in Una district of Himachal Pradesh has started using women’s name on the nameplates at the house entrance as an initiative to empower women as well as countering gender discrimination, Jagran has reported.

Around 550 houses in the Mawa Kohlan village in Una district are now dawning the name of women on the name plates as the family head. The initiative is aimed to encourage women and girls of the family and give them equal status in home, society, education and economic level.

Besides houses, shops in the village market also have names of either women or girls on their boards.

According to the report, Una is included in the list of 100 districts in the country with highest gap in gender ratio but the situation is now improving due to such initiatives.

Pradhan (Village head) Sangeeta Devi told the paper that every household in the village is now led by a female and the shops are being named after daughters. She hoped that this initiative will change the mindset of people towards the daughters and help in improving the gender ratio.

Rakesh Kumar Prajapati, deputy commissioner Una, said that efforts are being made to change the conservative thinking towards girls in the district. He said several measures like Rs 51,000 assistance for girl marriage, financial aid in education of girls and priority in government offices for families with only daughters are being carried out to change the mindset of people toward girl child.