Daughter's Day in India

As we celebrate Daughters’ day today i.e. 11 August central Women and Child Development minister Maneka Gandhi is in spotlight for launching the campaign “Selfie with Daughters” on social media. She recently shared a picture on twitter with her daughter-in-law and grand-daughter with  #BBBPDaughtersWeek. The emphasis is on the need to treat one’s daughter-in-law as one’s daughter only. She has also invited people to share their pictures with their daughters-in-law and grand-daughters with #BBBPDaughtersweek. Many have argued that ‘in-law’ should be dropped from the word ‘daughter-in-law’.

I wondered how Rajasthan, my home state is going to observe this day as it has a sex ratio of 928 female for every 1000 males much below the national average of 940 female (2011 census), especially when Rajasthan boasts to have in office a woman chief minister Smt. Vasundhara Raje.

My attention was caught by a newspaper article where it praised the district collector Ms. Archana Singh for initiating a unique scheme in Rajsamand district. She directed the Gram panchayats in this particular district to reserve lands as Kanya Upvan/ Girl Parks. The panchayats will ensure that a family will plant eleven saplings in the reserved Kanya Upvan upon the birth of a girl child in order to welcome her. The girl will enjoy the rights over the income earned from selling the fruits and flowers of these plants. Already nine gram panchayats have adopted this scheme namely Binol, Banodiya, Bhanuja, Lal Madri, Taal, Tasol, Bhana, Mohi, Kuraj. The aim is to cover all the villages in Rajsamand district under this scheme.

This initiative serves as the perfect example of ecofeminism that emerged in mid 1970s alongside second wave feminism and the green revolution. Ecofeminist movement tries to connect the exploitation and degradation of nature with the subordination and oppression of women as a result of patriarchal system (‘Feminism and Ecology’ by Mary Mellor, New York University Press, 1997). So the Kanya Upvan scheme of Rajsamand district perfectly blends in the concerns of the nature and women. No doubt it is worth emulating in other states too where sex ratio is worrisome (top five states are Haryana,879; Jammu and Kashmir,889; Punjab,895; Uttar Pradesh,912; and Bihar, 918, census 2011). At the same time Rajasthan administration has to ensure that implementation of this scheme goes beyond just papers as it's a cumbersome process to ensure the maintenance and growth of plants for years to come.