The National Seminar on Womens Empowerment and Save the Girl Child,organised by Nanhi Chaan at Khalsa College,Amritsar,on October 6,will be attended by the wives of councillors,MLAs and MPs cutting across party lines,as well as women achievers from different walks of life. Speaking to journalists here today,Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal said that the meet is a non-political event and 7,500 invitations have been sent to various prominent women. Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal will also be present on the occasion. Explaining Nani Chaans mission,Harsimrat Kaur Badal said, Literacy is the key to womens empowerment but unfortunately only 50 per cent women are literate. The situation is particularly bad in rural areas where most girls do not pursue studies beyond the primary school level. If transport facilities are provided to such girls at least up to the plus-two level,womens education will take a quantum leap. She pointed out that special skill development programmes should be introduced at the school level,the idea being to equip girls to take up vocational or other courses that can help them supplement their incomes later to make them economically independent. The Bathinda MP suggested that as a social security measure,governments should invest substantially in the girl child to ensure that when she turns 18,she has an adequate amount in fixed deposit form to take care of her own needs. Referring to President Pratibha Patils visit to the state,she said that October 6 would be declared Nanhi Chaan Day and observed that there should be free legal advice and OPDs in hospitals. Commenting on the scourge of female foeticide,she said that there is a need to change peoples mindsets. Laws are there but what is needed to eliminate the gender bias is a social transformation and change in mindsets,she pointed out. It is ironic that female foeticide is more prominent in prosperous states like Punjab that have a high level of literacy, added Harsimrat. She said this was the reason she had started the Nanhi Chaan initiative from Punjab and promised to spread its message across the nation.
