State to Initiate Special Programs for Women: Modi
Patna: January 12, 2008
 Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, during a two-day workshop on child and women trafficking in the state, said the administration was preparing special programs to protect young girls and women in Bihar and appealed to the people not to treat girls as a burden.
"Today girls are equally capable of performing everything that once used to be the sole domain of the boys. They are occupying important positions in the society and it is about time people rid themselves of the time-worn idea that girls were somehow inferior to the boys," Modi said at the workshop, sponsored by the Diocese of Patna, Church of North India.
The Deputy CM also said that the President of India Pratibha Patil, during her upcoming trip to Bihar, would launch a scheme for empowering the girls ensuring their education and a life without discrimination based on their gender.
Highlighting the key features of the state-sponsored scheme, Modi said that girls from all classes would be given a bond of Rs. 2,000 that would mature when they turn 18. The government would also provide Rs. 5,000 for the marriage expenses of girls as the administration has already initiated a scheme involving Rs. 700 for school uniform for girls.
State Assembly Speaker Uday Narain Chowdhary, in his speech, said that lack of education, poverty, and unemployment were the chief reasons for human trafficking in the nation.
"With education, girls can be empowered to aim higher and break the shackle of poverty that is the leading cause of human trafficking in the state," Chowdhary said.
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