There is a very interesting tradition in Dharhara village near Bhagalpur, Bihar that has become a model for women empowerment across India. According to the tradition whenever a girl child is born in a family, the community celebrate her birth by singing folk songs and the concerned family plant 10 fruit trees. This tradition has been going on for generations but recently came into limelight when the chief minister of Bihar acknowledged this practice and decided to make this the theme for the Republic Day tableau.
According to one estimate the approximate number of fruit bearing trees in this village is two lakh. The concept is simple yet encouraging, as the girl child is born the parents according to their financial capacity plant trees of their choice. The trees are mainly of some economic value like Seesam for its timber or fruit trees like Litchi or Mango. It would be amazing to know that the village boasts of 25 varieties of mangoes growing in their region.
As the age of the girl child progresses, the economic value of the tree also grows. The products from the tree are sold in the market to finance the educational and other needs of the girl. This way the orthodox mindset of the families to perceive girls as a 'burden' nullifies. And when the girl child reaches the marriageable age, the family often accumulates enough wealth to meet the marriage expenses. It has also been observed that every year the community celebrates the birthday of the girl child along with the trees planted on that day.
This practice has a multifold benefits. Primarily it financially empowers the family to meet the needs of the girl child and of themselves. Secondly, as the natural wealth of the village improves, the ecosystem services like fresh air, clean water, microclimate and soil productivity also improves which further consolidates the well being of the community as a whole.
In India, where the problem of illegal sex determination and female foeticide are giving nightmares to the government, the example set by this village has given a new direction to women empowerment (WE). This is also an effective lesson for the bureaucracy to think environment and development in inclusive terms.
The forest officers in the state must take the onus to emulate such practices in their area of operations by creating awareness and providing technical know-how to the community to plant only those trees which best suits the geographic condition of that region.
The precedent set by this village in Bihar and the States like Haryana, which has recently crossed the sex ratio of 900 are very motivating and must be emulated by rest of the States in India for their model of women empowerment.
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