A part of Independence Day celebrations this year, parents of infant girls will be invited to schools across Haryana where they will plant saplings that will be named after their daughters.

Taking forward its initiative taken during Republic Day this year to honour the girl child and combining it with environment protection, the Haryana government is aiming at marking Independence Day functions in a unique manner. Parents of girls born between August 2015 and August 2016 will be invited for functions in schools in their respective villages. The mothers of the infant girls will be given seats in the front row as a mark of respect and will also be honoured.

The education department has entrusted the task of identifying families where girls were born in the past year to the school heads. Invitations will be delivered to the families of the infant girls by the school head, chairman of school monitoring committee and the staff. The sarpanches of the villages will be involved with the initiative.

To spread the message of environment protection, it has been decided that the families of the infant girls who come to the schools will plant saplings. These saplings will be named after the girls. The school students will be involved in the upkeep of these saplings.

Joint director, school education department, Haryana, Meenakshi Goyal, said, “The saplings can be planted by the parents inside the school premises and outside. As these will be named after their daughters, the parents will have a certain attachment to the saplings planted and could help in the upkeep. This will serve the twin purpose of protecting the environment and honouring the girl child. The message is that parents should take pride in their daughters.”

The flag hoisting will be done by the most educated girl in the village. The girl will remain the brand ambassador for the initiatives taken under Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao programme for the entire year. She will also be made a member of the school monitoring committee. It has been decided that the girls in the village who have scored the highest marks in Classes X or XII or in higher education will be honoured during the function.

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Haryana figured among the worst states in terms of sex ratio as per the 2011 Census. The government has taken some initiatives to improve sex ratio. In the past more than a year, the Haryana government has registered around 300 FIRs under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Technique (PC&PNDT) Act and Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act. The most cases were registered at Yamunanagar.

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