ROHTAK: A panchayat in Haryana will reward
Harpreet Kaur, 14, with a 100 square yard plot for helping the village get rid of an unwanted name, as a token of appreciation. The village in Ratia block of
Fatehabad district was renamed as Ajit Nagar, from Ganda, after Harpreet, a Class VIII student, wrote to the Prime Minister in 2015 for changing its name.
“The village panchayat had been making efforts to get the name changed for the last 27 years, but it could not do much due to administrative hassles.
Harpreet changed that by managing to seek attention of PM Modi,“ Ajit Nagar sarpanch
Lakhwinder Singh told TOI.
Singh said the village panchayat was overwhelmed with Harpreet's gesture and wanted to reward her with a plot so that her family could build a proper house.At present, Harpreet's family lives in a house made of mud and bricks. The panchayat also plans to collect donations from the village and district administration to help the girl's family build a two-room set.
The panchayat also plans to honour Harpreet for her exemplary work on Republic Day so as to encou rage the residents inculcate the habit of taking up social responsibility, the sarpanch added.
A village elder recalled how the residents have lived with shame and embarass ment, being called Ganda (dirty) all these years. “We were happy to see the village get a new name of Ajit Nagar, after the eldest son of the 10th Sikh master Guru Gobind Singh,“ he added.
Harpreet's father
Gurjeet Malkat, a Sikh Dalit, stays with his wife Sukhpal Kaur and three children on the village outskirts. The family has a meagre income and cannot afford a new house.
Expressing gratitude to the panchayat, Harpreet claimed, “We are poor people with limited resources and have to live in such a pathetic condition due to economic constraints. I am thankful to the village panchayat for deciding to extend support to my family.The development of village is a collective responsibility and we should take it seriously.“
The Prime Minister's Office responded to Harpreet's letter and asked the Haryana government to look into the matter. Recently, the Haryana government finally renamed the village and forwarded the proposal to the Union home ministry for final approval.