Several villages in western India have banned girls and single women from owning mobile phones, saying the devices distract them from their studies.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The ban applies to girls under the age of 18 and unmarried women, he said.<\/p>\n
“The girls don’t study properly if they have mobile phones, and they can get into all sorts of bad situations,” Thakor\u00a0told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by telephone.<\/p>\n
“Let them study, get married, then they can get their own phones. Until then, they can use their fathers’ phones at home, if necessary.”<\/p>\n
It wasn’t the first time Indian villages have taken this step.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
India is the world’s second-biggest market for mobile phones, with more than one billion users.<\/p>\n
In Mehsana district, offenders will be fined about 2,100 rupees ($31) and informants will be rewarded, Thakor said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“It was imposed by elders in the villages, saying it’s for the girls’ safety,” he said. “But not many people are following it.”<\/p>\n
![\"Women](\"http:\/\/www.w-t-w.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Women-Banned-from-Cellular-Phones.jpg\")
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