This Odisha sarpanch asks villagers to plant 50 trees every time a girl child is born

Nuapada: In a novel initiative in support of the girl child, a sarpanch of Odisha’s Nuapada district has once again become the talk of the town after she recently declared plantation of 50 trees for every female birth in her panchayat.

Meet Sarojini Agarwal, the sarpanch of Bhaleswar panchayat within Jonk limits of Nuapada block of the district who had once earned widespread applause for her initiative to provide allowance to differently-abled  beneficiaries with the help of drones. Now, she has once again emulated a similar feat by announcing that 50 trees will be planted for every birth of a girl child as a message to curb gender discrimination in various forms. Taking to Twitter, Sarojini shared the information with the State government and the district administration and said this is an effort  to create awareness among locals to honour the girl child.

As per reports, a meeting of ASHA workers was conducted in the panchayat on Tuesday where the sarpanch announced that every time a girl child is born, the respective family will plant 50 trees in her name on the premises of their house while illegal practices like sex determination of the foetus, female foeticide/infanticide and child marriage will attract severe penalty and strict action.

“I still see so many instances of people killing the foetus or baby on finding out the gender is female. Child marriages are still rampant and girls are seen as a burden. Such outlook needs to change and this is a step towards that objective,” the sarpanch said, adding that this will not only create awareness but also help people change their outlook towards the female sex and encourage them to start nipping gender discrimination in the bud.

Lauding her initiative while taking immediate cognizance of the matter, Collector Hemakanta Say said it is a noble step and directed DFO Khariar to provide seedlings to families concerned at the earliest.