The Ministry of Women and Child Development celebrated the National Girl Child Day on 24^th January, 2022. In view of COVID-19 situation in the country, the programmes were organised on virtual/online mode across the nation to promote awareness about the rights of the Girl Child and to celebrate their achievements in various fields.

Online Interactive Programmes     

As part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, a virtual function was organised to recognise the exemplary achievements of children by conferring Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar (PMRBP) Awards-2022. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi interacted virtually with the winners of PMRBP-2022.  The children along with their parents and concerned District Magistrate of their respective district joined the event from their district Head Quarters.

A series of online live interactive programmes were also organised by various Ministries in which the Ministers interacted with young girls and motivated them to have belief in their ideas and to follow their heart.

(i)The Ministry of Women and Child Development together with UNICEF celebrated ‘Kanya Mahotsav,’ a festival of the girl child. Union Women and Child Development Minister, Smt Smriti Zubin Irani, engaged in an interactive online conversation with nine adolescent children from different States. The interaction and the digital campaign emphasized, ‘Har Ladki Khaas Hai’, i.e. ‘every girl is special’.

Delivering the keynote address, Minister Smt Irani welcomed the participation by the adolescent girls and boys who shared their stories of courage, determination and hope. Acknowledging UNICEF’s support in bringing forth these voices of children from across India and suggestions from the children, the Minister  requested for focus on mental health challenges faced by children and support the Samvaad programme with Ministry of WCD; to bring together a coalition of young girls who contribute to ending child marriage in their communities and incorporate the recommendations for services for children in alternative care and family based care situations through Mission Vatsalya.

The Regional Director, UNICEF South Asia, George Laryea Adjei appreciated India’s steadfast commitment and significant progress in preventing child marriage, promoting adolescent empowerment, and ending violence against women and girls. He emphasized UNICEF’s commitment to this agenda and working with the Government of India.

(ii)Union Minister, Ministry of Textile, Commerce and Industries, Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution, Shri Piyush Goyal held a virtual interactive session with young girls who have made noteworthy innovations in different areas.

(iii)Union Minister of State, Ministry of Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh also interacted on a virtual platform with young women entrepreneurs who have made noteworthy achievements in the field of science, technology and innovation.

Webinars

Following webinars were organised by the WCD Ministry on the National Girl Child Day:

(i)National Commission of Women (NCW) organised a virtual discussion on the topic “Save the Girl Child” through which their speakers contributed to raise awareness about the rights of girls and on the importance of girl education. Shri Om Prakash Dhankhar Ex Cabinet Minister, Haryana discussed on the “Ideologies, Mindset and Role of the society towards saving the girl child” and Ms Pragya Vats, Head of campaigns- Save the Children, Bal Raksha Bharat enlightened the attendees on “Awareness about the rights of girls and the importance of girl education and  various policies and its outcomes”.

(ii)The Ministry of Women and Child Development and the National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD) organized a National Webinar on “Addressing Comprehensive Needs of Adolescent Girls in India #ladkiyanjahankhusiyanwahan” on 24^th  January, 2022, the National Girl Child Day. The objectives of the Webinar were to: celebrate the National Girl Child Day; provide an understanding on the nutritional needs of adolescent girls; identify the challenges faced by adolescent girls with reference to education; and understanding the importance of psycho-social development among the adolescent girls. A total of 3000 participants from across the country participated in the Webinar. The participants included: adolescent girls from child care institutions, students from colleges, Government Officials, Counsellors, functionaries of Anganwadi Services Scheme and Child Protection Scheme, principals, teachers, PhD scholars, officials from civil society organisations, social workers, administrators, etc.

(iii)National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) organised a webinar on the topic, ‘Legislative Rights of a Girl Child’ which was live streamed on NCPCR's Facebook and Twitter. Justice Shri Kalpesh Satyendra Jhaveri, former Chief Justice of Orissa High Court was the main speaker for the webinar.

Programs organized by different Ministries

(i)M/o Education, M/o Skill Development, M/o Youth Affairs & Sports, Ministry of Science & Technology organised informative webinars on various issues to highlight the achievements of their Ministries in empowering girl child in the field such as education, health, hygiene, marriage, empowerment, gender equality etc. on the occasion of the National Girl Child Day.

(ii)The Department of school Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education celebrated the achievements of girls on National Girl Child Day under 75^th Azadi Ka Mahotsav. The theme of the programme was ‘Hamari Beti Hamari Shaan’. 75 Girl achievers in different fields of academics, sports, Kala Utsav,  Rashtiya Avishkar Abhiyan, environment and culture were  selected across India to participate in the programme.

In this programme, panellists namely, (i) Ms. Anita Karwal, Union Secretary, Ministry of Education, (ii) Ms. Tessy Thomas, Scientist, (iii) Ira Singhal, IAS, (iv) Ms. Ankita Sharma, IPS (v) Ms. Kanta Singh , Deputy Representative, UN Women India and (vi) Ms. Bhavna Kanth, First Fighter Pilot were invited to interact with the achievers and share their life experiences  and success stories with the girls. The profile of the panellists were shown highlighting their work and achievements in the programme and a show reel was also shown during the programme depicting the success stories and the achievements of all the 75 participants.

(iii) Ministry of Culture organized Rangoli Utsav ‘Umang’ to celebrate National Girl Child Day under Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. A nationwide event was organized where the participants drew rangoli decorations on the roads and squares named after the female freedom fighters or the female role models of the country. The rangoli decorations were made at more than 70 locations in 19 States.

Celebration under BBBP scheme in districts

All the 405 multi-sectoral districts under BBBP organised programmes such as:

(i)Gram Sabha/Mahila Sabha on CSR

(ii)Programme with schools (Gov/Privates) on value of girl child

(iii)Posters/Slogan-writing/Drawing/ Painting competition among school on STEM related topics

(iv)Stories in local media about BBBP local champions etc.

Some of the events organised by the districts are as follows:

(i)Felicitation of talented girls by Dr. Virendra Kumar, Hon’ble Minister of State, Ministry of Minority Affairs in the Tikamgarh district of Madhya Pradesh.

(ii)Webinar session on menstrual hygiene in Saraikela, Jharkhand.

(iii)Felicitation of block level toppers of 10th and 12 and district toppers of 10th and 12th by District Collector Saraikela, Jharkhand.

(iv)Drawing competition among the Child club members of Ramachandi child club, Kendrapara District, Odisha.

(v)Additional District Magistrate and the team of ICDS Nalanda, Bihar celebrated the National Girl Child Day by blowing the balloon and discussing on to improve the level of health, nutrition and education of the girl child.

(vi)In North Sikkim, National Girl Child Day was celebrated at Mangshila Gram Prashashan Kendra. Shri Pintso Namgyal Lepcha MLA, Panchayats, Zilla Member and Adolescent Girls participated in the programme. Programme started with awareness on the scheme of Girls like Suknya Samridhi Yojana, Child rights, POCSO etc. by DPO/Mangan./North Sikkim.

(vii)Paintings were drawn by the students of GSSS JASSIA Rohtak, Haryana to mark the occasion of National Girl Child Day.

Some Important Tweets on National Girl Child Day

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