By IANS,
Amritsar : Women devotees coming to the Golden Temple in this Sikh holy city were Wednesday given saplings of various trees as a unique campaign to protect the girl child and the environment took off here.
The campaign ‘Nanhi Chhaan’ (Little shadow) involves giving saplings of tress to women devotees coming to the holiest of Sikh shrines to plant them in their homes with a pledge to help save the girl child and also the environment.
Punjab has one of the worst sex ratios in the country – a dismal 800 women per 1,000 men. Female foeticide is quite common in the state despite strict laws.
The first sapling (‘Buta prasad’) was given away by Harsimrat Kaur, wife of ruling Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal.
The campaign is a joint venture between the state government, the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) and corporate house Ranbaxy group.
“There would be serious demographic imbalances in Punjab’s society in the future. On the other hand, declining tree cover is also a cause of great environmental concern as it would make our development ecologically unsustainable. Today, there is an urgent need to mainstream both these issues and to take them to the common man through well-directed initiatives’,” Harsimrat said.