In an attempt to involve citizens in the effort to save girl child, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sought suggestions from people on his campaign ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’. On the occasion of the International Day of the Girl Child, the PM also urged people to pledge for gender equality and end discrimination against daughters.
“On International Day of the Girl Child we celebrate the achievements of our daughters. From the classroom to sports, they shine everywhere. Today let us pledge to create an atmosphere of equality for the girl child. There is no question of any discrimination based on gender,” the Prime Minister said.
PM has invited people to share their suggestions on MyGov website. “Female foeticide is a matter of deep shame and a cause of great concern. lets work together to remove this menace from society. Share your ideas on ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’,” PM said.
The United Nations has marked 11 October as the 'International Day of the Girl Child'. The day promotes girls' human rights, highlights gender inequalities between girls and boys and addresses discrimination and abuse suffered by girls around the world. This year, the theme is “Empowering adolescent girls: Ending the cycle of violence.”
About ten days ago, India delivered an assistance of $1 million to the UN’s women body on gender equality and women empowerment. This was the fifth installment of the total contribution of $5 million to the UN body for its voluntary budget of UN Women (United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women).
India has a skewed sex ratio with States like Haryana and Punjab having low sex ratio. According to Census 2011, the overall sex ratio in India is 940 females per 1,000 males.