Bhagalpur: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today hailed the villagers of Dharhara for setting a positive example to their fellow countrymen to treat the girl child as an asset and not a liability by planting trees to mark the birth of girls in their village.
The Dharhara residents’ age-old practice of planting trees to mark the birth of girl child in the village and celebrating the occasion is worth emulating at a time when the gender ratio in the country has been in decline, he told a public meeting in the village.
On being informed that the villagers plant at least ten fruit bearing trees upon the birth of girls and use the resources for education and marriage of these girls, Kumar said that the local people have in their own novel way have served twin purposes, that of environment conservation and gender sensitivity.
The chief minister also planted a tree in the village to mark the birth of a girl Lavi Kumari, born to the proud parents – Saurabh Singh and Priyanka Devi.
The villagers’ concern for the girl child and environment needed publicity across the country and the world, Kumar said and directed the District Magistrate Rahul Singh to send a district-level official to the village to make a documentary film by talking to each villager for wide publicity.