Shivani, 12 year old born not in so poor a family of Jaliya village at foothills of the prosperous Jain pilgrimage centre Hastagiri in Gujarat is not so fortunate. There is no prop she can use to climb into her dream world with higher studies. Her father can afford to pay her fees to climb few step of the private high school in the village after she finishes her free education at the Panchayat School passing her exam for eighth standard. But his father is disinclined to spend on her education till the end of secondary examination.

He is orthodox character who considers girl in the family as a load and liability. Girls in villages are always exposed to and can easily be prey to wolves sprawling around and on look out for easy satisfaction of their sexual lust. They can be in the family, in the village or even in expanses when girls have to reach outside villages for their biological daily relief. No girl is safe. Once she felled prey to such wolves, on event a hint of attack on her person, she becomes a greater liability. Safer for prestige of the family is to marry her off as soon as possible so liability hangs in another neck.

Even educated girl is a liability as she cannot get good job around village and risky to send her for work in nearby township. Lust leers from every male eye working around her. She can be treated at par with son who brings money home every month. For Shivani, her sex stands in her realization of dream to reach higher in studies so she can do something of her life.

Orthodoxy of her father and joined by her mother is age old. The fate of young widows who climbed on the funeral pyre of their dead husbands to willingly end their lives tells the story of ordeals and torments of young girls. Young widows were subject to free sexual abuse by even most male members in the family, particularly if she were a good looking. There were few saviors who would have lent them a helping hand out of their ordeals.

The chastity of women was the most demanded quality of women. Even in Ramayan, Sita had to pass the ordeal of fire test to be accepted by her husband back home to Ayodhya even though the demon king had never even attempted to molest her modesty during her captivity. No one ever asked the question what would have happened if Sita had failed in the fire test. Answer came from her unjust banishment from life of Rama as punishment only because of a remark of a sole soul of washer man who refused to accept chastity of Sita after her long captivity. If devi Sita can be subjected to such a torture, and of all people by her husband where can an young girl hide her face if such loose talk is spun around in small habitation? The conservative elements in the mentality of rural parents had descended down for ages. They can be faulted for wrapping girls with need of the imaginary chastity belt and thus prevented their attending schools for enlightenment, politicians cannot be held less responsible for it.

Education was not even included in the priority task by seven prime ministers in first 44 years of Independence. The first prime minister had accepted to continue the British legacy of education system that was devised for different purpose. The climatic and social and developmental needs did not induce any changes in even academic calendar. Only in time of the Narsimha Rao government, education for all was accepted as objective but without active programme for its implementation. It began only under the Vajpayee government but without improving quality of education in government, civic bodies and panchayats run schools.

Proportion of school going children virtually doubled in the decade of the Man Mohan Singh government but without attention to improving quality. Even poor underwent a drastic change in their mental makeup with realization of need for education of their children. Without empowerment they would not have dignity of life was their conclusion. It led to smaller family norms.

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the first politician who emphasized girl’s education as he had done in Gujarat. His campaign Save Girl child and educate girl would need political economic and social action plan to get through the mental taboo of parents on the issue of girls education. Enactment cannot induce change but enticement can. If girls can be earning daughters with secondary education, parents would not only ensure their education but also delay their marriages for they would want their girls to bring as much money as they can through honest vocation and work.

NaMo has an uphill task of convincing his own party men in the same way as he did stand outside doors of the Muslim households every July on the opening day of schools in Gujarat. He sought girls of the family to go with him to schools. He asked nothing more. Consequently the literacy rate among the Muslims and the Muslim girls took a leap to overtake the Hindu literacy rate under his regime. The fact has not been commented upon by secularists and NaMo did not brag over it. His stand before the household had combined the political will and also social reform in person. It would need repetition on the national level.