851 newly-born baby girls feted at ‘Dhian Di Lohri’

Jaswant Singh Gandam
India Post News Service

PHAGWARA, Punjab: Under ‘Seva Saptah’(Service Week) undertaken by NRI-sponsored NGO ‘World Wide Scope Welfare Society’, Ghurka-Bhanoki villages, Rs about 20 lakh were spent on various philanthropic projects that culminated in ‘Dhian Di Lohri’ (Lohri of daughters) at Johal Farm, Ghurka village, on January 8 with former Union minister and Congress stalwart Preneet Kaur presiding over it.

Two UK-based NRI business magnates cum philanthropists Satnam Singh Bahra and Pindu Johal, belonging to villages Bhanoki and Ghurka respectively, are Patrons of Society and foot the whole bill of all welfare projects for the needy, said Society’s Chairman Hardip Singh Taggar, a former Sarpanch of village Taggar.

He disclosed that under ‘Dhian Di Lohri’, as many as 851 newly-born baby girls from several villages were feted with gifts containing one suit, one kg fried groundnuts, one kg ‘reoris’ and Rs one hundred ‘shagun’.

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One of the Waris brothers, Kamal Heer Waris, regaling audience at the function

Besides,180 Anganwari workers were honored with a shawl, groundnuts and ‘reoris’ each, he said.

Preneet Kaur distributed these gifts and traditional sweets to daughters’ mothers.

Besides former Union minister of state for External Affairs Preneet Kaur , Markfed Chairman Amarjit Singh Samra, Chabbewal MLA Raj Kumar, former Punjab minister Joginder Singh Mann, PPCC General Secretary Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary, senior Congress leader Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary graced the occasion.

Popular Punjabi singers Waris brothers Manomah Waris and Kamal Heer Waris, Kler Kanth, Debi Mansoorpur, Ranjit Rana, Mangi Mann, Lehmber Hussainpuri, Buta Mohammed, Ranjit Mani and Sahibi regaled the huge gathering.

Addressing the function, former Union minister Preneet Kaur, while lauding NGO’s project ‘Lohri Dhian Di’, said it will be helpful in reversing the trend of gender discrimination with girls.

Giving a clarion call for standing up against social evil of female foeticide as it disturbed demographic balance and skewed sex ratio, She claimed that Punjab government was laying due focus on checking female feticide and weaning away youth from drug abuse.