Tripura campaign to improve lot of girls

In a move to improve the status of the girl child, the Tripura government that recently announced a special economic package for poor families with two daughters has now roped in a TV star as goodwill ambassador to propagate the message of gender equality.
Smita Nandy, the 15-year-old from Tripura who created a sensation with her appearances in “Sa Re Ga Ma Little Champs”, has been nominated as ambassador for the ‘Save the Girl Child’. The campaign will address the entire gamut of issues, including immunisation, gender bias and the need to improve the sex ratio. “Though Tripura is in a little better position as far as sex ratio among northeastern states are concerned, the state government has taken a set of steps to further improve the gender ratio,” Tripura Family Welfare and Preventive Medicine Department director Radhakanta Dhar told IANS.
The sex ratio in Tripura is 949 females per 1,000 males, followed by 900 in Nagaland, 935 in Assam and Mizoram, 972 in Meghalaya and 978 in Manipur. India’s sex ratio got reduced to 933 in 2001 from 972 in 1901.
According to Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, the sex ratio in Tripura had been showing a downward trend, forcing the state government to take a slew of initiatives under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).
“The scheme would help in maintaining gender balance in the state. While gender equality is being upheld, female infants were still found on many occasions dumped in trash,” Sarkar said. Last week, the Tripura government had announced a special economic package to ensure education and nourishment for the daughters of the poor.
“Under the scheme, the state government would provide Rs.300 to the mother of two girl children every month for their care and education,” Chief Minister Sarkar said.
The scheme, effective from June 1, would be valid for a girl child of a family below the poverty line (BPL) till she is 16 years old.

All Sikkim villages to have telephones, internet soon: Pilot 

Union Minister of State for Information Technology Sachin Pilot said Sikkim has potential to emerge as an IT and BPO hub and assured that all 450 villages in the state will have telephone and broadband connectivity soon.

"The exchanges in all the villages of the State’s 26 blocks will be brought under the telecom and broadband network soon," Pilot said.

At present, 50 per cent of the villages have telecom and broadband connectivity provided by the state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and private operators.

"Sikkim has a lot of IT potential and BPOs can flourish here, generating employment. Thus we have to connect each hamlet with mobile and land line connectivity as soon as possible," Pilot told IANS.

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