Advani meets family of seven that attempted suicide

New Delhi, March 21 (IANS) Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani Saturday met the poverty stricken seven-member family that Wednesday attempted suicide in the national capital.

Due to financial problems, Satish Jain, who is a resident of Chander Nagar in Keshav Puram area in northwest Delhi, had Wednesday attempted suicide along with his wife and five minor daughters. They were admitted to Bhagvan Mahavir Hospital.

While Satish is still in a critical condition, his wife Sarita and daughters are out of danger.

'We have heard about debt-ridden kisans (farmers) committing suicide in rural areas. But I am shocked to know that a debt-ridden family in the nation's capital attempted collective suicide. This is symptomatic of the effect of the current economic crisis on various sections of society,' Advani said after meeting the family at the hospital.

'A girl child is considered a burden in our male-dominated society. It is equally the responsibility of the government to share the burden of educating girls,' Advani observed.

'It is for this reason that I have recently announced, that a future NDA government, if elected, would implement the Ladli Laxmi Yojana all over the country,' he added.

On Tuesday, Advani had announced the Ladli Laxmi Yojana in every state to support the girl child if voted to power. Under this social security scheme, which is currently being run by the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh, the government buys savings certificates in the name of every new-born girl child.

The girl not only receives regular instalments during the course of her school education, but also gets a lumpsum amount of Rs.118,000 after the completion of class 12.

Advani, who is also the prime ministerial candidate of the BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), said: 'While continuing with the existing reservations for the SCs, STs and OBCs, our government would also bring the benefits of reservations for the poor among other sections of society. The tragedy of Satish Jain's family has underscored this point as well.'