Haryana govt faces flak as magazine mentions 'ghoonghat' as state pride

A government-run monthly magazine in Haryana has mentioned that ‘ghoonghat’ or veil is the pride of the state. [caption id=“attachment_3750973” align=“alignleft” width=“381”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Navbharat Times reported that Haryana Samvad’s March issue showed a poster of woman in a veil on the last page. Next to the woman, it is painted on a door is that the veil is the pride and the identity of the state. This has sparked a controversy as this comes at a time when Haryana government has been launching several initiatives for women empowerment. Zee News reported that several organisations have raised questions over this and sought a response from the government. Haryana is among the bottom five states in terms of sex ratio. In 2014 , the sex ratio at birth was 871, a marginal increase from 868 in 2013. In March this year, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had claimed that the skewed sex ratio in the state had improved after the implementation of the Beti Bachao scheme, reported the Indian Express . He had claimed that the state’s sex ratio had increased to 950 female births per thousand males, but huge discrepancies were found when the actual data was recorded later. The _Indian Express_ report said that the Haryana government has been spreading awareness through workshops, street plays and lectures in anganwadis, schools, community health centres and among teachers. In 2014, the women of Sartol Khap village in Haryana were in news for shedding the purdah and pushing for empowerment, the Times of India had reported.