Activist behind ‘Selfie with Daughter’ campaign; man on mission to clean Himalayas share their Mann Ki Baat

Both the Haryana natives interacted with Modi during the 100th episode of the programme, broadcast on Sunday.

Jaglan, a former sarpanch of Bibipur village in Jind, had launched his campaign in June 2015. On Sunday, Modi said Jaglan’s initiative has turned into a global campaign. The PM added that the campaign’s objective was neither a selfie nor technology but the importance given to the daughter. “This campaign also to shed light on how big a daughter’s place is in a person’s life…It is the result of many such efforts that today there has been improvement in the gender ratio in Haryana,” he added.

Through the ‘Selfie with Daughter’ campaign, Jaglan urged people to take photographs with their daughters and upload those on social media. He later created a dedicated website where people could share selfies with their daughters.

On Sunday, Modi reminded the audience that he had started the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign from Haryana in 2015. “Meanwhile, when I got to know about Sunil ji’s ‘Selfie with Daughter’ campaign, I liked it very much. I included it in ‘Mann ki Baat’,” said Modi and asked asked Jaglan how he was feeling now that it was being discussed again.

“Prime Minister, Sir, the fourth battle of Panipat (‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’) that you started from our state is really a big thing for me and for the father of every daughter and for all those who love daughters,” said Jaglan.

Jaglan’s two daughters — Nandini and Yachika — are students of classes 7 and 4. He mentioned that he has put a nameplate outside his home bearing the name of Nandini, his elder daughter.

Meanwhile, Modi also praised the efforts of Pradeep Sangwan who had established the Healing Himalayas Foundation nearly seven years ago to clear the Himalayas of the waste left behind by tourists. Connecting with Sangwan, Modi, while referring to an earlier episode, said, “We had discussed about the ‘Healing Himalayas’ campaign. You thought of healing the Himalayas and you ran a campaign. How is your campaign (going) nowadays?”

Sangwan told the PM that they began on a nervous note and at one time he was not sure if he would be able to sustain this life long as few people were taking an interest in the campaign and not giving much importance to the initiative. He had almost thought of giving up at one stage, Sangwan told the prime minister.

However, after the PM mentioned the initiative during a “Mann ki Baat” episode in 2020, things changed as several people joined the campaign, Sangwan told Modi.

Modi told him that he was performing a noble duty in the peaks of the Himalayas in the true sense. “And I firmly believe that hearing your name, people remember how you are associated with the cleanliness campaign of the mountains,” said Modi, and added that several mountaineers are posting photos connected with “swachhta (cleanliness)”.

“This is good, due to efforts put in by my friends like you, the notion of ‘waste is also a wealth’ is percolating into the minds of the people and the environment is also being protected,” said the prime minister.