Gonda District Magistrate Neha Sharma told ‘PTI-Bhasha’ that inspired by the Women’s Reservation Bill recently passed by the Parliament, the administration, as per the wish of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, has given reservation to all castes including backward, extremely backward castes, Dalits, tribals, forest people etc. And it was decided to invite the girls of the sect and worship them during Navratri and this ceremony has been named “Shakti Vandan”.
The District Magistrate claimed that “this will be the biggest Kanya Puja ceremony not only in the state but also in the country.” Concerned people have been contacted to register this achievement in the Limca Book of Records. Neha Sharma told that earlier this achievement was included in the Limca Book of Records on March 9, 2019, during the Shivratri festival in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh. The program of mass worship of 1008 girls was considered a record. Gonda administration has completed preparations to create a new record by organizing a bigger event than this.
The District Magistrate said that ‘Shakti Vandan’ ceremony will be organized on October 22 (Sunday) in the huge courtyard of Shaheed Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh Inter College of the district. A ‘waterproof’ pandal is being prepared in the huge campus of the college in an area of about one lakh square feet through German hangars procured from Meerut. The entire pandal complex has been divided into 10 sectors and named after the nine forms of Durga and Ganesha.
Naib Tehsildar level officer has been made the head of each sector. There will be 10 rows for girls to sit in each sector and arrangements are being made to seat 110 girls in one row. He said that the Block Education Officers have been made in-charge of each pandal and the teachers working under them have been given the responsibility of each row. Around 225 buses have been arranged to transport girls from across the district to the venue.
According to the statement issued in Lucknow, the Yogi government, dedicated to women’s safety, respect and self-reliance in the state, is going to take a unique initiative in the fourth phase of Mission Shakti, under which another step will be taken towards empowering women in Gonda district and making them self-reliant. Taking important steps, the state’s first “Mission Shakti Cafe” is being started.
In the statement, Gonda District Magistrate Neha Sharma was quoted as saying, “Along with the Shakti Vandan ceremony, this Mission Shakti Café is being started from the government-aided Lal Bahadur Shastri College.” These cafes are being established in schools and colleges, which will be operated by women of self-help groups. This is the first Mission Shakti Café in the state which will give the women of self-help groups an opportunity to stand on their own feet. It will also provide nutritious and clean food to the students.
Sharma said that a wall has been prepared dedicated to the women of the country who have increased the prestige of India in the country and the world. In this wall, 25 personalities including the country’s first citizen President Draupadi Murmu, Rani Durgavati, Rani Lakshmibai, Sarojini Naidu, Sushma Swaraj, Sania Mirza, gymnast Deepa Karmakar have been given place.
Neha Sharma said that these great personalities have left an indelible mark in the society with their hard work, skill, determination and tireless efforts and this wall has been prepared so that the coming generations also take inspiration from them. This will also be inaugurated during the Shakti Vandan ceremony itself.