Panchayat bans girls from dancing

A village panchayat here has banned cultural programmes by girl students in schools in the area alleging they were encouraging vulgarity. ‘Dances and songs in these cultural programmes have encouraged vulgarity among students. Therefore, ban on such programmes is a necessity,’ Raja Ram, 'Sarpanch' of Kinana village panchayat, said on Friday. As the decision drew flak, the sarpanch said the criticism was unwarranted as the the panchayat has not banned cultural programmes, it has only banned ‘vulgar cultural programmes’.