In Rajasthan, a state that is frequently in the news for cases of female foeticide, one man is bringing a lot of happiness to mothers of newborn girls. Every time a baby girl is born in Sumerpur’s Community Health Centre (CHC), 65-year-old Jitendra Kumar Jain gifts the mother a packet of ghee.
“Not that a kilo of ghee is precious, it is only a token of appreciation for women who are bringing these priceless gems into the world. In these times of skewed sex ratios, it is important to spread joy at the time of birth of daughters,” he said to The Times of India.
Jitendra is the father of three daughters and has been distributing one-kilo packets of ghee for the past seven months. If he is unable to go to CHC on a particular day, someone from his family ensures that the packets of ghee reach the mothers.
His family launched Pyari Bitiya Janam Uphaar Yojna on Raksha Bandhan day in 2015. Since then, they have distributed ghee to as many as 158 mothers.
They also give baby kits to the families of all newborn babies.
Representative photo source: Pinterest
“They come every day and, with their own hands, distribute desi ghee,” says Sumerpur CHC In-Charge Dr. Praveen Arora.
Jitendra’s wife Santosh Devi, brother Subhash Chandra Agarwal, and his wife Asha Devi, also accompany him on most days.
Sumerpur is one of the blocks in Pali district that has witnessed an increase in sex ratio at birth during the last one year.
“We also cut cakes in the ward quite frequently on birth of a girl child, which is mostly when there are more than five to six girl children delivered in a day,” says Kuldeep Singh Deora, Block Chief Medical Officer.
Hopefully, these small efforts by individuals and the government will go a long way in ensuring a high sex ratio in the state in coming years.
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