The National Girl Child Day was celebrated by 'Kanyakiran', a unique initiative of KIIT & KISS, across 34 places, including all 30 district headquarters of Odisha, on Sunday.
A national virtual webinar on ‘Kanya Kiran-Educating Girl Child for Building an Equitable Society’ was organised at the KIIT. Dr Sunitha Krishnan, founder, Prajjwala; Dr Smita Premchander, Head, Sampark and Adjunct Professor, IIM Ahmedabad; Suryamani Roul, veteran development professional; and Dutee Chand, sprinter & KIIT student; addressed the participants.In her keynote speech, Dr Krishnan said education is a means to create a gender-just society. It gives power to each one to live with the dreams each one has, she stated.
Dr Premchander said, "Education should aim towards breaking the shackles of inequality in a patriarchal society. Skill development and life skills in particular need to at the core of one's focus while deploying education as a tool of empowerment."
Roul said public investment in education and especially in the field of girl child education needs to be prioritised. Action-based research and policy-based intervention to integrate knowledge, skill and attitude need to be introduced in policy making.
In his welcome address, Dr Achyuta Samanta, founder, KIIT & KISS, said Kanyakiran is a platform to promote the girl child, to protect the women, to empower the girl child through education. "Education is the third eye of a child," he added.
Among others, Prof HK Mohanty, VC, KIIT University and Prof Sasmita Samanta and VC-in-Charge, KISS University also spoke on the topic. Girl achievers Abhilipsa Bhol, Sushri Divyadarshini, Yasoda Pandey and Sarita Kolaka were felicitated.
The district level toppers in the matriculation examination (among girls) in 2020 and others girls who have excelled in different spheres of life were felicitated with cash prizes in each district. The primary objectives of the Kanyakiran campaign are to ensure empowerment of girl children and women, their social rights, to prevent vicious violence against them, to generate awareness about different schemes for the sake of women and girl children and to stop women trafficking. The Kanyakiran mission commenced in 2018 at the behest of Dr Achyuta Samanta.