Charkhi Dadri village that takes pride in its girls

Hisar: Kamod village, about 6 km from Bhiwani in newly formed Charkhi Dadri district, has taken a novel initiative to break the patriarchal mindset of people in rural Haryana by identifying each family of the village by the name of a girl. 

The village has already emerged as one of the flag bearers in improving the gender ratio by registering 1,300 girls per 1000 boys last year. Sarpanch Surarshan Kumar, the first villager to name his house after his nine-year-old daughter Shruti, said: “I am proud that my family is known as Shriti’s family. This is not only an attack on the mindset responsible for the skewed sex ratio but also a good omen for the younger generation. We hope that every girl child would earn a name for her family and the village in the years to come”, he said.Kumar said all panchayat and anganwari members had taken the lead in installing the nameplates bearing the names of their daughters, wives or mothers outside their houses. “All households in the village would do so in due course of time”, he added. Jagwanti Devi, an anganwari worker, said: “Ours is an attempt to break the unwritten social norm of identifying a family by its eldest male member in villages, which is mainly responsible for the deep-rooted patriarchal thinking. We hope other villages too would follow us in the days to come”, she said. “You visit the village and you will found Pooja, Chandni, Neha, Priya, Payal who are now the mukhiyas (head) of their families. It also gives women members the confidence to excel in their respective fields”, said Suman, a newly-wed woman of the village. 

Y’nagar lab develops process to use banana stem for making paper

Yamunanagar: Yamunanagar-based laboratory, Avantha Centre for Industrial Research and Development (ACIRD), has developed the process for utilisation of banana stem for making paper under a project sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology (DST). Dr NK Bhardwaj, Joint Director of the centre, said based on the encouraging lab results, a trial was successfully carried out for the first time in India by utilising banana stem for making paper on a high-speed paper machine at a leading paper mill in Faizabad. “The substitution of imported softwood pulp with banana stem pulp was done successfully for the production of super de luxe plain paper (SDP), one of the premier kraft paper grades,” said Bhardwaj. He said that with the use of banana stem pulp, the mill was able to replace imported softwood pulp up to 75 per cent without compromising the physical strength/properties of the paper. Bhardwaj said: “India being the largest producer of banana in the world, about 10.0 million tonnes per annum of oven dried material is generated as waste from banana plants. Only a small quantity is suitably utilised while rest goes waste due to absence of a suitable process for its utilization in value-added products.” Bhardwaj said banana stem currently had no commercial value but farmers might now be directly benefited by its proper utilisation.

Institute planned in memory of Pt Lakhmi Chand 

SONEPAT: Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma has announced that the state government would establish a big institute in memory of Pandit Lakhmi Chand, the most renowned Haryanavi folk singer. Addressing the closing ceremony of the two-day 117th birth anniversary programme of Pandit Lakhmi Chand organised in his native village Janti Kalan in the district, the minister said residents of Khatkhar village had offered land for setting up such an institution. The Education Minister released on the occasion two books written by Shushila Bhardwaj containing compilation 21 “saangs and 1,000 ragnis. Chairman of the Haryana Granth Academy Virender Chauhan and others paid rich tributes to Panditji, acknowledged as Surye Kavi. Folk singers from Haryana presented a cultural programme during the two-day birth anniversary programme.