Eco-feminism drive wins accolades

Rajasthan panchayat takes up initiative to save girl child

Social evils such as female foeticide, witch branding and sex discrimination are still to fade away from the male-dominant rural society of Rajasthan. But, a village in this desert state has set a new precedent by shedding such taboos. Piplantri village panchayat of Rajasmand district has been saving girl children and simultaneously increasing green cover by their unique initiative of “eco-feminism”.

To mark the birth of a girl child in the panchayat, the family along with villagers celebrates the occasion by planting 111 saplings of neem, sheesham, mango and amla and the community ensures they survive as the girl grows up. Community even collects donation and puts Rs 31,000 in a 20-year fixed deposit scheme in a local bank to share the burden of parents and ensure the timely marriage of the girl.

Piplantri panchayat has a population of 8,000 and villagers religiously follow rules introduced by their former sarpanch Shyam Sundar Paliwal, almost a decade back. Paliwal is proud of the measures he took as the sarpanch. Around 60 girl children are born every year in the village.

Paliwal started the initiative in 2006 in memory of his daughter Kiran, who died after a prolonged illness. Around a lakh saplings have been planted so far and villagers protect them just like their daughters. The father is entitled to claim this amount at the time of daughter’s marriage. Before making the fixed deposit, parents will have to file an affidavit.

“We make the parents sign an affidavit promising that they would not marry their daughter before the legal age, send her to school regularly and take care of saplings planted in her name. If the family abides by the affidavit, they are free to get the entire amount in fixed deposit,” said Paliwal, the brains behind the novel scheme.

Initially, more than 50 per cent of the families in the village refused to accept the new model of “eco-feminism” introduced by Paliwal. Later, the panchayat members introduced the fixed deposit scheme to share the financial burden of the parents while marrying their daughters. The initiative, at many places, was linked to old religious customs where parents were educated about the importance of daughters and trees.

A special committee was also constituted to enco­urage and monitor the new initiative. The committee comprised villagers, a few former and present members of the panchayat, the village school principal and anganwadi members.

Paliwal feels that no government campaign or scheme can ensure protection of the girl child in Rajasthan until the parents are provided with all social and economic security to take care and nurture their daughters.“In many villages in Rajasthan, a girl child is looked upon as a curse because her father has to give dowry at the time of her marriage. And they prefer a son as he helps father in earning his daily bread for the family. This was the reason we started making fixed deposit in the name of girl child in the village,” said Paliwal. “We tried to share financial burden of the parents and the idea clicked. The government should ideally work on similar model,” he added.

On their birthday, every girl along with other girls and women offer prayers to the trees. To prevent termite attack, residents have planted lakhs of Aloevera saplings around them. Now, they have become a major source of livelihood for many locals who market aloevera products like juice, gel and pickle.

Piplantri has turned almost into an oasis and it is surrounded by a large number of trees. “My daughter is seven years now. I have seen these trees and my daughter grow up together. Initially, not all villagers agreed to follow the idea of planting 111 saplings. Now, it’s no less than any ritual in our village,” said Shantu Bhil, a tribal from Piplantri village.
Another resident of Piplantri village said that it was for the first time he decided to bring up his daughter just like a son. Despite being a school teacher he never sent his daughter to a school.

“I earn enough to support my family and educate children. I felt bad when I saw that families below my status were treating their daughters on a par with their sons. I felt guilty and now I have started sending my daughter to school,” said the schoolteacher. “I have announced not to take the fixed deposit money from the pancha­yat and I am capable of marrying off my daughter,” he added.

Paliwal is now running a campaign against alcohol consumption and cutting trees. He claims to have done significantly well, which is evident from the fact that no police case has been registered in Piplantri panchayat in the last 3-4 years.  At a time when state governments are spending huge amounts and campaigning hard to save girl children, the innovative model of Piplantri had a multi-dimensional impact on the social and economic life of its residents.

While Piplantri has created history in Rajasthan, villages like Devra in Jaisalmer district in Rajasthan are known for their brutal approach towards girl child. In Devra village, no girl child was married for 108 years. However, just two girls have been married in the last 17 years.

The small village of Devra came to limelight when French freelance journalist Cilia Messier, penned a book “Seule fille de Mon Village” or “Single Girl of My Village,” which talks about the trend of female foeticide and girl infanticide in Devra village. In the gender-skewed society in the tiny hamlet with a population of 600-700, female foeticide or female infanticide is a centuries-old practice.

However, one family that dared to break the practice of social evil was former sarpanch Indra Singh, who married his daughter Javan Kanwar in 1998 apparently after 108 years of any “baraat” coming to the village.Twelve years later, the second baraat came to the house of Panne Singh, the brother of Indra Singh for the marriage of his daughter Shagun Kanwar on February 16, 2010. It caught media attention which led to the penning of  “Seule fille de Mon Village”.

Another village in Sikar district has also come forward with new initiative to educate the girl child. The people in Ram Singh Ki Dhani have decided make fixed deposit of Rs 25,000 and use the funds for providing education to every girl child. The village has a population of 2,500 and initiative was taken a year back. Now, the deposit amount has touched Rs 60,000 and villagers have started a door-to-door campaign to ensure that every girl in the village goes to school. As a result, the enrolment of girls  has increased tremendously. All girls are given free uniform and books by the funds collected by the villagers.