Village in India's Gujarat bans mobiles for single women

Village head says mobile phones distracted unmarried women from carrying out studies, household chores in village


Afp February 20, 2016
PHOTO: FILE

AHMEDABAD: A village in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat has banned single women from using mobile phones, with elders deeming the technology a "nuisance to society".

Members of the Suraj village council in Mehsana, the premier's home district, passed a resolution in early February outlawing the use of mobile phones for teenage girls and young women.

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"Community leaders felt that just like liquor, the use of mobile phones by unmarried women was a nuisance to society," village head Devshi Vankar told AFP, adding that a similar ban would be announced for school-age boys soon.

He said mobile phones were distracting unmarried women from carrying out their studies and household chores in the village, which has a population of 2,000.

If caught owning or speaking on a mobile phone, the violators will face a 2,100-rupee ($30) fine, according to the council, which is also offering 200 rupees to informers for tip-offs.

However, they can talk on their parents' or relatives' phones.

The ban was imposed at a meeting originally called to discuss the community's growing alcohol abuse problem.

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It comes amid a nationwide campaign by Modi to spread the use of technology in rural India.

Last year the government launched its "Digital India" initiative to help boost connectivity in India, where nearly a billion people do not have access to the Internet.

COMMENTS (1)

nasser | 8 years ago | Reply Just imagine if this was done in Pakistan. All sort of tdolls would start labelling pakistanis as premitive and islam as an oppressive religion.
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