National Girl Child Day
Give Girls the wings to fly; Let them Blossom and touch the sky!
A nation-wide debate and consultation was launched on the issue of declining number of females, per thousand males, in the country. The National Advisory Council was given the task to come up with recommendations for actionable points. There was a consensus among the experts that this was a matter of grave concern and required immediate attention and appropriate actions by the concerned Ministries.
The Government of India in 2008, declared 24th January of every year as “National Girl Child Day”, with the objective to raise the consciousness of the society towards the girl child, so that she can be appreciated, respected and treated equally in the society. National Mission for Empowerment of Women and its Nodal Ministry of Women & Child Development has been working to address and reverse the trend of the declining child sex ratio in the country. The objective of all these initiatives is to work towards ensuring that girls are born, loved and nurtured and grow up to become empowered citizens of the country.
The purpose of this day is to focus attention on the depleting female to male ratio and take a stand on issues of female foeticide, domestic violence and malnutrition in children. The day is celebrated in order to increase awareness among people about the inequalities like inequality in education, nutrition, legal rights, medical care, child marriage etc. that a girl child faces in the society. Campaigns surrounding these major issues are highlighted and the government tries to raise awareness as well as spread consciousness about gender equality among people.
Advertisements in newspapers, TV channels and radio stations are run to spread the message of ‘Save the Girl Child”, far and wide, as the Government comes together with the NGOs, to fight this social stigma against the Girl Child.
This year on National Girl Child Day, celebrate the day with a girl child using the following tips:
- Celebrate the day with your daughter, niece or a younger cousin and make the day special for her.
- Explain to your child about equality for girls and their empowerment.
- Teach your child to respect each and every individual, irrespective of their gender.
- Make a donation in any form to an NGO working with girl children.
- Participate in any Nation-wide competition or awareness programme to make your child aware about the issue.
