It146;s a girl!

Daughters are a matter of pride, after all she is as much the family8217;s blood as the boy.

Recently the tricity saw a handful of activities to promote the cause of the girl child

Daughters are a matter of pride, after all she is as much the family8217;s blood as the boy. While often they are refused love, care and acceptance efforts straight from the heart are making sure that the girl child is a celebrated, and not a neglected being. Narvijay Yadav, Founder President, Beti Foundation of India, hopes to change the attitude of society. 8220;We believe in celebrating daughters.8221; So is the discrimination more in rural or urban India? 8220;It8217;s hardly about that. What matters is the mind-set. Female foeticide happens despite the education and monitory capacity, while in villages a lot of forward thinking has happened. The problem is that even though girls are working now, the minds of the people are still blocked. But the youth today is quite progressive, it will change things in the future,8221; he hopes.

It is not just NGOs and the 8216;biggies8217; who are out there to make a difference, even the young ones are contributing their bit to the cause, their own way. One may not think them mature enough to realize the gravity of such issues but one look at their efforts at you realize the truth behind their simple approaches. They are far more sensitive towards their surroundings than we perceive. And the students of Dikshant International School, Zirakpur, proved exactly that in a recently held a painting exhibition. Their colours, ideas and expressions paid tribute to the different faces of the Indian women. Mitul Dixit, Director of the school, believes that it8217;s important to inculcate such values in students early on. 8220;We call ourselves citizens of a developed nation of the 21st century trying to live with the illusion that we are at par with the developed giants of the world but with cases of dowry deaths, the decreasing sex ratio of women in India due to female foeticide and infanticide , we as a country cannot call ourselves a developed nation, although, the government of India is taking initiatives to solve the issues faced by women but the only solution is to educate the present generation of children and create awareness amongst them to bring about a total change.The paintings on exhibition are for sale and the proceeds would be donated to an NGO 8220;Asmita8221; with the objective of 8220;saving the girl child in India.8221;

Not only schools but other institutions are also pitching in. On Daughter8217;s Day, Ivy hospital, Mohali, launched launched Ivy Sukanya Scheme for the benefit of the single girl child. Dr Rajesh Bali, Medical Superintendent shares, 8220;The inspiration for such a noble program came from the Beti Foundation of India. The scheme is focused on the welfare of single girl child. Any family having a single girl child may get her name registered with us at a nominal fee to ensure free OPD facility for her at Ivy Hospital for one year along with 10 discount in the indoor care too. The aim is to promote the love, care and acceptance of girl child in the community.8221; State Bank of India recently adopted 50 girls of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 10 and Government Model Senior School- Sector 12. Ajay Swaroop, Chief General Manager, SBI, Chandigarh, tells, 8220;Last year the bank initiated 8216;adoption of girl child8217; scheme sponsoring the their education up to class twelve in an effort to boost the literacy rate among girls. As many as 600 girls have already been sponsored by different branches of the bank in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir,8221; he tells adding that the initiative has been undertaken to make make a difference in the society.