*The women empowerment measures have been changed by the Madhya Pradesh's BJP government. If you want to empower the women of your localities give them gun. This is what MP's CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan is doing. What about NGOs women empowerment..........?* ** *Women get gun prize for toilet training* RASHEED KIDWAI
*Bhopal, June 1: *The Madhya Pradesh government has rewarded women with guns for encouraging villagers to use hygienic toilets instead of defecating in the open. Nineteen women in Rewa district bordering Uttar Pradesh have been given gun licences for their exemplary work under the Nirmal Gram Yojna, which aims at achieving "total sanitation" in rural areas. Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan visited Rewa on May 24 and announced the "prize". Rewa superintendent of police, Mohammad Shahid Absar, said: "Guns in the dacoit-infested Rewa district are the ultimate social status symbol. There are over 14,000 applications seeking gun licences, out of which only a few dozen succeed in meeting the strict criteria." In March this year, the Shivpuri district collector successfully launched a gun-licensing scheme. Manish Srivastva offered fast-track gun licences to men who agreed to be sterilised. The move helped increase the number of men undergoing vasectomies in the bandit-ridden Chambal region. On Tuesday, Rewa collector D.P. Ahuja issued gun licenses to Karuna Shukla, Ratri Devi, Geeta Dwivedi, Mamata Kol, Kusum Kol, Maya Tiwari, Shanti Kewat, Munni Charmakar, Geeta Singh, Poonam Sharma, Shyama Koli Saket, Sundrya Adivasi, Bitol, Chirauya, Lalita Singh, Belia Yadav, Kalpana Singh and Meena Adivasi. These otherwise little-known social workers from villages bordering Satna (in Madhya Pradesh) and Uttar Pradesh have become famous in their respective areas. SP Absar said these women — some members of village defence committees — had also helped in police raids as they are well versed with the terrain in their respective areas. Collector Ahuja said the state administration would assist them in buying 12 bore and 3.15 rifles. He said most of the women belonged to weaker sections of society. "The chief minister wanted to empower the women in villages and, therefore, we decided to award gun licence to these women for their exemplary work in their respective fields." The Chauhan regime is trying to bring all villages under the ambit of the Centre-sponsored Nirmal Gram Yojna by 2011. The first phase, ensuring 10 per cent of the state's village use toilets, of the sanitation scheme is near completion. Madhya Pradesh has another instrument to encourage sanitation in villages. According to clause 36 of the MP Panchayati Raj and Gram Swaraj Act, 1993, if elected representatives at the grassroots level fail to install toilets within a year of being elected, they would be disqualified. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080602/jsp/nation/story_9352573.jsp
