400 Punjab girls line up to shadow police and IAS officers, PMO hails it

NEW DELHI: Over 400 young girls have lined up to shadow a police or IAS officer for a day in one of Punjab’s most backward districts of Mansa, earning praise from the Prime Minister’s Office under Narendra Modi’s ' Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ initiative.

Leading the initiative is a woman additional deputy collector of Mansa, Isha Kalia, who told ET that 400 girls studying in Class 6-8 have registered for the scheme while over 70 girls have already undergone the one-day attachment. "The idea was to attach the girls with a police or IAS officer or a doctor for a day so that they can understand the job he does and get tips on how to pursue that profession," Kalia said.

The PMO, in a recent post on its website on the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ initiative has singled out the initiative for special praise. "The initiative has received great response, and more than 70 students have already got a chance to spend one day with a professional, to see them function in a professional environment, helping them make better decisions about their future career choice. The Mansa administration through the ‘Udaan - Live your Dream for One Day’ scheme is inspiring its girls to be educated," the PMO has said in the post. Kalia said the initiative saw challenges. "Mansa is a backward district with many parents not able to afford education for their daughters. In some cases, the girls were also very overawed by the idea of entering the offices of senior officers. A few of them were so scared of the police that they had told their parents that they would call them to be picked back in case they were uncomfortable in the police station while shadowing a police officer.’ Kalia told ET.

But the feedback we got was very encouraging – many girls have been able to shed their morbid fear of police and bureaucrats," Kalia told ET.

Mansa has one of the poorest sex ratio in the country at 883 females per 1000 men and 30 per cent dropout rate in schools. The literacy rate among females in Mansa is just 55 per cent against Punjab’s average of 71 per cent. "In that context, the scheme is an effort to motivate girls to have an aim and vision in life. A day’s live experience is the best career counselling," Kalia said.