As one travels southwards in Haryana, the green of the Jat belt gives way to the arid landscape of Mewat region. The lower Aravallis begin to ascend in the horizon and mosque minarets become as frequent as temple spires. At the heart of Mewat is Nuh, the “least developed district of Haryana” according to a 2015 study sponsored by Niti Aayog.
Mewat has long been associated with skewed sex ratios, poor health infrastructure, and dismal literacy rates. In the 1990s, Sonia Gandhi famously proclaimed at a Delhi rally that just 80 km from the capital lay a town where female literacy hovered in the single digits. She was talking about Nuh.
