Gupta Niwas, Joshi’s,
Sharma Bhawan- we are so accustomed to see the family name or a male’s name on
the nameplate of a house that when we come across ‘Aarti Niwas’, we are bound
to stare at it for a while in awe, trying to make sense of it.

This is what
happened in a single-storey house in Mathana Village in the Pauri Garhwal
district of Uttarakhand.

“It’s exciting
when people now knock on the door and ask, ‘yeh Aarti ji ka ghar hai?”  The postman, courier delivery boy are among
many that ask if Aarti is at home. This makes the 21-year-old feel special as
she is suddenly in the limelight.

Also Read | ‘My voice, our equal future’: Theme of International Day of the Girl demands attention

The nameplate
is part of a programme called ‘Ghaur ki Pachyan,
Nauni ku Nau’ (Identity of the house, in the name of the daughter)’ that
intends to create awareness about gender rights and property ownership among
women and families.

District
Chief Development Officer Ashish Bhatgain said that the programme was started as part of Centre’s ‘Beti Bachao,
Beti Padhao’ programme.

Pauri Garhwal,
the hilly district of Uttarakhand, has witnessed a healthy sex ratio of 1,103
women to every 1,000 men, according to Census 2011.  But, its child sex ratio (0-6 years) is a matter
of concern – at 904, it is way below the state average of 963.

Under this
programme, the administration has so far distributed nameplates to over 150
houses in three villages in Khirsu, Pauri and Yamkeshwar blocks.  

In Malli village in Pauri block, a nameplate that
reads ‘Simran Nivas’ decks out the exterior wall of a single storey house where
Usha Devi, a  homemaker and her husband,
Mukesh Kumar, a driver live with their four children.

“Simran, 14, is
my first born. Things used to be very different earlier. Now, girls and boys
have the same rights, and of course, we give them equal affection, care and
honour. I am not going to remove that nameplate even after Simran gets married”,
Usha said with pride.

This sparks
hope for Simran, a class-7 student who sees the nameplate as a new beginning.
She hopes her parents will allow her to go for higher studies.

Vijaya
Barthwal, chairperson of the Uttarakhand State Commission for Women, said that
women often give up their claim to their ancestral property and leave it for
their male siblings. This programme will make them cognizant of their right and
will uplift the status of women in the society.