National Girl Child Day: History, objectives and celebrations this year
National Girl Child Day is celebrated to raise awareness among people regarding inequalities, discrimination, exploitation faced by the girls in society.
India is celebrating National Girl Child Day on Monday (January 24). It is an initiative undertaken by the ministry of women and child development with an objective to provide support and opportunities to the girls of India.
Several Union ministers have extended their wishes on the occasion, listing the measures taken by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre for “women-led development”.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Jagat Prakash Nadda also extended his wishes, saying that the Centre is taking steps “to educate women and make them self-reliant”.
Objectives of National Girl Child Day
According to women and child development ministry, National Girl Child Day is meant to create awareness about the rights a girl owns and to give them opportunities like everyone else, and to support the girl child of the nation and remove gender-based biases.
It also calls for promoting awareness about the inequalities that a girl child faces and educate people about girl’s education.
The main focus is on changing society’s attitude towards girls, decrease female feticide and create awareness about the decreasing sex ratio, the ministry further said.
History of National Girl Child Day
The government of India, in 2008, declared January 24 to be celebrated as the National Girl Child Day every year with the objective of raising the consciousness of the society towards the girl child so that she can be valued and respected.
Steps taken by the government to fulfill the objectives of National Girl Child Day
The women and child development ministry listed a number of steps taken by the government in this regard, like:
• Save the Girl Child,
• Beti Bachao Beti Padhao,
• Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana
• CBSE Udaan Scheme
• Free or subsidized education for girl child,
• Reservation for women in colleges and universities
The day is marked by various events all across the country, though the ministry has decided to organise all the programmes in virtual mode this year in view of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.
Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2022
On the occasion of National Girl Child Day and as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually interact with Rashtriya Bal Puraskar awardees. The programme will recognise the exemplary achievements of the children.
The winners of the award, along with their parents and concerned district magistrate of their respective district, would join the event from their district headquarters.
