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Village elders say the mobile phone ban is needed to keep girls out of trouble [Adnan Abidi/Reuters]
Villages in western state of Gujarat are barring girls and unmarried women from having phones to help with studies.
Several
villages in western India have banned girls and single women from owning
mobile phones, saying the devices distract them from their studies.
Villages in
the Mehsana and Banaskantha districts in Gujarat state imposed the ban,
and more villages have joined the campaign, said Ranjit Singh Thakor,
president of the Mehsana district council.
The ban applies to girls under the age of 18 and unmarried women, he said.
"The girls
don't study properly if they have mobile phones, and they can get into
all sorts of bad situations," Thakor told the Thomson Reuters Foundation
by telephone.
"Let them
study, get married, then they can get their own phones. Until then, they
can use their fathers' phones at home, if necessary."
It wasn't the first time Indian villages have taken this step.
Villages in
eastern Bihar state imposed a similar ban a few years ago, saying mobile
phones were "debasing the social atmosphere" by leading young women to
elope.
India is the world's second-biggest market for mobile phones, with more than one billion users.
In Mehsana district, offenders will be fined about 2,100 rupees ($31) and informants will be rewarded, Thakor said.
While more
villages appear to be embracing the phone ban, villages in Banaskantha
district have an informal rule, said Gaurav Dahiya, the district
development officer.
"It was imposed by elders in the villages, saying it's for the girls' safety," he said. "But not many people are following it."
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