Hyderabad:Every year National Girl Child Day is celebrated on 24 January to raise awareness among the society regarding the rights of girls in India and to give them equal status, education and respect.
Slogans like "Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao", "Save the Girl Child" are advertised by the Government of India to emphasise the need of education, inequalities and problems related to the girl child.
This day is observed in India to create awareness in the society among people about all the inequalities, discrimination, exploitation faced by the girls.
Initiated in the year 2008 by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, through this campaign the Government of India highlights the need of saving the girl child, child sex ratios and ensures that the girls should get equal opportunities and exposure.
Union Minister Smriti Irani tweeted, "Today is a day to celebrate fortitude & accomplishments of every girl child. On National Girl Child Day, let us reaffirm our pledge to end discrimination against our girls and empower them with equal opportunities."
The main objective of National Girl Child Day is to highlight the inequalities faced by girls in the country.
To promote awareness including the rights of a girl child, importance of education, health and nutrition and to challenging gender discrimination.
National Girl Child Day 2020
There are schemes made by the central government to empower girls.
Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao: Launched with initial funding of Rs 100 crore the scheme aims to address the issue of the declining child sex ratio.
Sukanya Samriddhi Yojna: Part of the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign, Government of India backed saving scheme is targeted at the parents of girl children. The programme encourages them to build a fund for future education and marriage expenses for their girl child.
Balika Samridhi Yojna: Aimed at offering financial aid to girl children born on or after 15 August 1997, the schemes key objectives include improving the enrolment and retention of the girl child in schools and helping raise daughters until their legal age of marriage. If successful, young girls will get an education that will help them with jobs to generate a steady income.
CBSE Scholarship Scheme/Policy for Girl Education: This central government scheme is available at Government CBSE schools only. It is applicable for one girl child per family across India and aims to supplement the school tuition fee.
Kishori Shakti Yojana: Scheme for Adolescent Girls, a centrally-sponsored scheme administered by the Government of India, is implemented through Anganwadi Services (earlier known as ICDS) under the umbrella Integrated Child Development Services infrastructure by the State Governments/UT Administration.
While women and girls may be referred to as devis and Laxmis in India, it is known to all that in the patriarchal society, women and girls are mistreated, raped and subjected to many more such sufferings.
According to the recently released NCRB data, 32,608 cases were reported in 2017 while 39,827 cases were reported in 2018 under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). As many as 109 children were sexually abused every day in India in 2018, according to the data by the National Crime Record Bureau, which showed a 22 per cent jump in such cases from the previous year.
From the ancient practices of Sati to child marriage, dowry, gender inequality, pay parity and more, the women have forever suffered at the hands of society's rules and regulations.
Government campaigns like Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao", "Save the Girl Child" address such issues and creates awareness which may help people to change their mindset, especially in rural areas, for creating a healthy and safe environment for a girl child.
