To save the girl child, the Golden Temple lends its shade

Beginning August 27, all women devotees at Amritsar’s Golden Temple will be given a sapling free of cost to be planted back home. Called Nanhi Chaanh (small shade), the ingenious scheme will put the force of faith behind the need to spread sensitivity towards the girl child and environment. The last Census in 2001 put Punjab’s sex ratio at 874:1000.

Under the scheme, to be made a permanent feature during the months of February and August which are plantation months, all the estimated 30,000 women devotees visiting the Golden Temple daily shall be given a sapling of one of the varieties of trees mentioned in the Guru Granth Sahib.

Guru Nanak Dev was quoted as having said in 1499 that “It is a woman who keeps the race going and we should not consider her condemned or cursed, when from woman are born leaders and rulers.”

The scheme, which is a joint initiative of the Punjab Government, SGPC and Impact Group of companies, aims to spread this message, as well as underline that both the girl child and environment need nurture and care. The saplings would be dispersed in special boxes designed to allow in light and air.

Explaining the rationale behind the scheme, Harpal Singh, Chairman of the Ranbaxy Group and Impact Group of Companies, said: “Mothers and trees are givers. They provide us so many things without expecting anything in return.”

He said that in the first year they would would spend Rs 25 lakh on the programme. They have proposed to the SGPC to extend it to other gurdwaras as well. “This scheme is also being launched by us at several other religious places, including Ajmer Sharif.”

SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar, who described female foeticide “a major cause of concern”, said other gurdwaras could be roped in. “Earlier too a hukumnama was issued by the Akal Takht which condemned this hideous and reprehensible practice,” he pointed out.