Patna : A village panchayat (administrative unit) in Bihar has prohibited women from using mobile phones with heavy fines if they violate the diktat, an official said on Monday.
The self-styled social reformers of Sunderbadi village panchayat in Kochadham block of Kishanganj district on Sunday issued the orders banning women from using mobiles, a district official said.
“The villagers have issued an order to impose a fine of Rs10,000 (Dh673) if a girl is found using a mobile phone, while a married woman will have to pay a fine of Rs2,000 if found talking on a mobile outside her house,” the official said.
A senior police official at the police headquarters here said it was the first such diktat issued by a village panchayat in Bihar. “There is no precedent to such an order issued by a Bihar village panchayat,” the official said.
The Sunderbadi panchayat has also ordered women not to bathe on the roadside.
“The decision was taken in a meeting attended by panchayat members and village elders,” Mohammad Manzoor Alam, who presided over the meeting, told IANS by telephone on Monday.
Alam said the villagers, mostly elders, favoured imposing the ban.
“Mobile phone is the cause of all evils in our society, including increasing love affairs and the incidents of elopement,” he claimed.
Kishanganj is a Muslim-dominated district, and among the most backward districts in Bihar with 60 per cent of the population living below the poverty line.
Indian Village Bans Mobile Phones and Wearing Jeans
Defiant girl students form panchayat; ban jeans, mobile phones
Amid uproar over Taliban-like diktats against women by a village in Baghpat, girl students from various villages in this district convened their own 'community panchayat' and vowed not to use mobile phones till Class XII or wear jeans.
The meeting attended by 50 girls from different castes and villages yesterday, however, opposed any move by village elders to impose their decisions on them.
“Nobody should try to impose their decisions on us. We are capable of taking decisions for our welfare,” said a participant at the meeting organised by Bhartiya Kisan Union woman leader Sohanviri at Dudhli village.
The participants, who hailed from different villages including Manssoorpur Dudhaheri and Moghpur villages, discussed the bad effects of mobile phone use on students. They also decided to shun jeans to 'respect' the wishes of the elders.
A panchayat in neighbouring Baghpat's Asara village had on Friday banned love marriages and barred women below 40 years from going out for shopping and using mobile phones, sparking an uproar.