Girls to gain a lot from goats in Maharashtra

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The Indian Express Dt 23 May 2007

Girls to gain a lot from goats in Maharashtra

Agencies
Posted online: Tuesday, May 22, 2007 at 1427 hours IST


Pune, May 22: Young girls in rural households of Maharashtra will soon have a four-legged friend to promote their health and well being.

Sounds a bit strange. But the state Animal Husbandry Commissioner Leena Mehendale, who has conceived the unique project 'Maitrin' (girl friend) to hand over a she-goat to the families having a girl child, is confident of getting a nod from the state Cabinet, the first of its kind in the country.

Under the scheme, currently awaiting formal clearance from Finance ministry, the Animal Husbandry Department will provide a she-goat to those families in rural areas of the state having girls aged between 8 to 18 years.

Explaining to logic behind the measure to be implemented from coming financial year, Mehendale said that the goat was expected to serve as a means to increase income of the rural families resulting in better nutrition ‘for the traditionally neglected girl child’.

The beneficiary family heads will be told to test the hemoglobin percentage of the girls after a period of one year at government hospitals to know whether they were being looked after well.

"If we find that hemoglobin count has gone up after one year, the concerned family will be given one more female goat as an incentive of sorts," Mehendale said.