TAX FOR DELIVERING BABIES!
Baglung, May 24: Ever heard of paying tax when a woman gives birth to a baby? If not, welcome to a village in Baglung district.
Milan Women’s Group collects ‘tax’ from the couple belonging to upper class families for delivering the first child.
“The society gets a new member whenever a baby is born. So we collect the money to make the society where the child lives beautiful,” said chairperson of the group Buddhi Kumari Shrestha.
The group provides support to poor couples with the money raised from the rich ones. “Recently, we helped two pregnant women who could not afford medical treatment for want of money,” said Sita Shrestha, secretary of the group.
Besides raising money from rich couples, they also collect money from bridegrooms and lahures (foreign job holders). And the money collected has not gone down the drain.
The women have constructed a community building at Rs 1.2 million and a five-room office building at Rs 170,000.
The list of their contribution continues. The women are also active to settle disputes among villagers, construct roads and drinking water projects and control alcohol in the village.
Encouraged by the women’s social service, the District Development Committee and Shivalaya VDC have also provided the group with Rs 500,000 and Rs 25,000 support, respectively. RSS