Government events to start with "worship of daughters" in Madhya Pradesh

All government programmes in Madhya Pradesh will now begin with "worship of daughters" in keeping with an announcement made by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan four months ago, officials said on Thursday.

Chouhan had announced on August 15 that all official programmes in the state will begin with "betiyon ki puja" ("worship of daughters").

As per the announcement by the chief minister, the state government has decided to start all official programmes by performing betiyon ki puja, an order issued by the general administration departments deputy secretary DK Nagengra said.

Since Chouhan assumed office (he is in his 4th term), he launched a number of schemes for the welfare of girls. These included Laadli Laxmi Yojna, a scheme later emulated by other states, and "Beti Bachao Beti Padhao" (save and educate girls).

State BJP spokesman Rajnish Agrawal said "worship of daughters" is a practice that existed in earlier party governments also.

Basically, it is an attempt to raise awareness about welfare of girls for which the state government has launched a number of schemes, Agrawal said.

However, state Congress media cell vice-chairman Bhupendra Gupta termed it as a drama to divert people's attention from real issues like crime against women, human trafficking, inflation, COVID-19 and rising prices of petroleum products, among others.