January 24 is a special day for all the female population across the globe. It is National Girl Child Day which the India has been observing since 2008. It is also said that National Girl Day, will coincide with the date when the former Prime Minister late Indira Gandhi was sworn in as the first woman PM of the country.
The global message behind celebrating this day is to protect the girl child and to treat her equally with respect and love.
Marking the day, the various departments under the Union government such as Women and Child Development and Social Welfare Department have been making their sincere efforts not only to create good or friendly environment for the girl child but also to save the girl child as well. The day also highlights the importance of educating girl child, giving her the proper nutritious diet and treating her on par with the opposite sex.
With the objective to raise awareness about this day, the Ministry of Women and Child Development comes with the various events that focus on reducing child sex ratio in the country and also to ensure that every girl child is given an equal opportunity with respect to different fields.Though various acts have been passed by the government like Domestic Violence Act 2009, Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 and Dowry Prohibition Act 2006 for the betterment of the female population but all such campaigns was still lacking. Ironically, the welfare schemes were not reaching the target group even in some areas of urban localities.
As per census data 2011, Haryana recorded the lowest child sex ratio with 830 girls against 1000 boys. India’s capital Delhi followed the list in terms of lowest child sex ratio with 866, Chandigarh with 867, Maharashtra and Rajasthan recorded 833 whereas Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh recorded 886 and 899 simultaneously.
The efforts are on the way to convey the essence of these acts and social schemes to girls, especially those from the economically weaker sections of the society.From ancient times it has been the regular practice in India that girl child are killed before they are born. Many research reports and studies found that around five lakh girls are killed in India every year. One of the main reasons behind such practice is- majority of India’s population lives in the villages and has a belief that fostering the girl is expensive.
If all girls born in India become empowered citizens with equal rights, then only the purpose of celebrating this day is achieved.
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