Union minister of women and child development Maneka Gandh on Friday said Haryana’s sex ratio was so plaintive that grooms in the state were “kidnapping” girls from Uttarakhand and Assam for marriage. She, along with tourism minister Mahesh Sharma, was addressing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers at an auditorium at Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) in Rohtak on the occasion of completion of two years of the BJP government at the Centre.
“When a girl goes missing in Uttarakhand, police think that men from Haryana might have kidnapped her, owing to the skewed sex ratio in Haryana,” said Maneka.
She also informed the BJP workers about various schemes initiated by the BJP government in the state.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign was launched in 12 districts of the state. The results are overwhelming with an increase in girl child sex ratio from 830 last year to 907 this year in these districts,” Maneka said, adding that their plan was to make it 1000 by next year.
However, she said, Rohtak was the only district where the sex ratio declined even after the campaign was launched. “In Rohtak, the girl child sex ratio declined from 920 to 873. The reason behind this is that people in Rohtak did not take the campaign seriously,” she said.
The Union minister also doled out tips for local BJP MLA Manish Grover and asked him to install ‘digital guda-gudi boards’ in the city, besides inducing seriousness among residents to do their bit for promoting the campaign. “Only after the sex ratio improves can Haryana families stop importing brides from other states for their sons’ marriage,” she said.
{{/usCountry}}The Union minister also doled out tips for local BJP MLA Manish Grover and asked him to install ‘digital guda-gudi boards’ in the city, besides inducing seriousness among residents to do their bit for promoting the campaign. “Only after the sex ratio improves can Haryana families stop importing brides from other states for their sons’ marriage,” she said.
{{/usCountry}}Maneka also informed the party workers about the Mudra scheme and distributed cheques to 20 people to begin new businesses. She said the government would strictly deal with those banks that were not giving loans under the scheme. She added the government was soon going to make a rule of appointing 33% women police in the district.
Childline receives 13 lakh complaints in April
The Union minister said Childline — a toll free helpline for children’s complaints — received 13 lakh complaints in April, two lakh more than it received in March. Showing concern on around 4 lakh children that go missing in a year in the country, Maneka said the BJP had introduced ‘lost and found’ website, which could help track the missing kids.
Rohtak may have international airport
The Union minister for tourism, Mahesh Sharma, said the government was considering making an international airport in the NCR region to ease the burden of Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi. He added the government had received suggestions from three places — Rohtak, Jewar and Bhiwadi. The minister said the chances were high that Rohtak could be chosen for the project.
The minister also assured to make Haryana a tourist spot soon. He added the projects were being initiated in Kurukshetra. On the request of local MLA, Sharma visited Tilyar Lake here and vowed to improve the spot for tourism.