Bihar’s Women Development Corporation plans anti-dowry campaign
PATNA: Bihar’s Women Development Corporation (WDC) is preparing to increase awareness against dowry to convince people to print anti-dowry declarations on wedding cards
PATNA: Bihar’s Women Development Corporation (WDC) is preparing to increase awareness against dowry to convince people to print anti-dowry declarations on wedding cards. It is also considering involving NGOs for the pledge against dowry.
In 2020, Bihar was second in the country in terms of dowry deaths with 1,046 cases, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.
Chief minister Nitish Kumar has appealed for the pledge against accepting dowry and getting declarations against it printed on the wedding cards. In January 2017, he launched an anti-dowry campaign and a human chain was later formed against the practise.
“For anti-dowry declarations, there is a need to make people aware... The WDC is preparing to launch an aggressive awareness drive (for it),” said Ajay Shrivastava, project coordinator, WDC.
Meena Tiwari, the National general secretary of the All-India Progressive Women’s Association, welcomed the move. “Every woman appreciated his (Kumar)’s appeal to the people to make an anti-dowry declaration on wedding cards. But the problem is how to get this executed.”
Jaimangal Dev, a psychology teacher at Patliputra University, said everybody knows that dowry is illegal. “Even then this evil practice continues. The only way to stop it is to bring attitudinal changes in people.”
