Chandigarh: Panchayats in Haryana have generally acquired a stereotypical reputation owing to their retrograde diktats. However, a panchayat in the state has come up with a novel idea ensuring the safety and well-being of the women folk.

Inspired by bollywood movie “Toilet- Ek Prem Katha”, Godikan panchayat in Haryana became the first panchayat in the country to pass a resolution to marry off girls only to families who have a toilet in their house.

Passing the resolution, sarpanch Dharampal said that besides hygiene, the move is also aimed at ensuring the safety of their daughters.

“We have toilets in every household of the village. It would be wrong if we marry off our daughters to houses that don’t have toilets. If girls have to go out of their homes to relieve themselves, they will not be safe. Hence, we have decided that we will not marry our daughters to people who don’t have toilets in their homes,” he said.

Godikan panchayat has already been declared an Outdoor Defecation Free (ODF) panchayat.

New posters and banners, which read Beti wahin byahenge, jis ghar me shauchalaya payenge’ (Will marry off our daughters to only those households where we find a toiled), will display their resolve.

The resolution is being appreciated by all, especially village women and girls.

“If I am to get married, I would first see to it that the boy’s house has a toilet. The family should be one which respects its daughters and educates them. I will never get married into a family which thinks of daughters as a burden,” said a girl from the village.

Meanwhile, Pritpal Singh, District Development and Panchayat Officer, said the district administration had screened the Akshay Kumar and Bhumi Padnekar-starrer to all sarpanchs in the area, following which Dharampal was inspired to pass the resolution.