For the protection of girl child, ‘Ananyaa Angul’, an innovative and unique campaign, was launched by the Angul administration on the occasion of the International Day of Girl Child on October 11 last.
To mark the beginning, a mega bicycle rally was held here which received unprecedented support from all sections of the town. More than 30 educational institutions, all Government offices and more than 20 NGOs and corporate houses participated in the rally with more than 2,500 participants from all age groups and different socio-economic backgrounds.
The rally covered the entire town for 10 km for spreading awareness against cruel practices such as gender discrimination and female foeticide, etc. Spectacular tableaux, placards with slogan, banners with message for awareness were also displayed in the rally for sensitizing the public.
The event was attended by among others, SP, DFO, CDMO, ADM, Sub Collector Angul, besides Angul, the DIG of Police, North Central Range, Talcher, DFO, Satkosia Wildlife Division and DFO, Athamallik.
Mountaineer Kalpana Dash flagged of the rally at Angul stadium after Collector Sachin R Jadhav welcomed all the participants and appealed for mass awareness and sustained campaign against the social evil.
It is pertinent to mention here that the gender ratio and child sex ratio in Angul district is one of the lowest in the State and has been showing a dismal trend over the last two or three decades. The key demographic indicators are heavily skewed against the girl child primarily in the urban areas of the district like Angul headquarters town, Nalco Nagar, Talcher, Kaniha, etc. The lowest child sex ratio (children between 0 to 6 years) is as low as 581 in a few pockets of industrial areas of Angul.
The District Administration in association with all the stake-holders has embarked on a novel mission to drive home the points of gender equality and prevention of unethical practices like pre-natal sex determination of the foetus, female foeticide, and selection of child based on gender.
The year-long campaign is proposed to be taken to all the urban areas of the district with various mode of campaign like street plays, road side meetings, wall writings in different localities, debate and essay competition in schools and colleges.