A week-long campaign on raising awareness on importance of saving a girl child under ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padao’ (BBBP) programme was today launched by the Member of Parliament, Nazir Ahmad Laway at Mini Secretariat Kulgam. The ICDS Department organized a grand seminar on the inaugural day of the campaign.DDC Kulgam, Talat Parvez Rohella, SP Kulgam, Programme Officer ICDS, Principal GDC Kulgam, B.A Rather were also present on the occasion.During the week-long campaign, a calendar of multifarious activities has been charted out to make the programme a success. The activities include holding of rallies by concerned supervisors, AWWs and adolescent girls, plantation drives in the name of girl child, door-to-door awareness campaigns, Nukad Natak, Play Street, folk media and puppet shows to aware and educate the people about the significance of girl child and her education.Speaking on the occasion, the MP said that parents should take pride on having a girl child as girls are blessing not only to the family but to the entire society a well. “The educational institutions in particular and the society in general have to play a proactive role in value orientation towards girl child”, he said.
On the occasion, the DDC deliberated upon the benefits for the female child under different government sponsored schemes. He said that Health and ICDS Departments should work in synergy to ensure better healthcare and development of expecting mothers and ensure that all the pregnant ladies are enrolled under different maternity benefit schemes. Officials of ICDS informed about the activities of the Department and said that there is a great need of taking concrete and cogent efforts to address low child sex-ratio in Qaimoh and DH Pora blocks of the district. It was said that 100 percent immunization of children belonging to 0-6 year category has been achieved in the district, while as only 53 percent children have been covered under nutrition in AWCs in Kulgam district.Principal GDC Kulgam, DSWO and others also spoke on the function and highlighted issues faced by women folk in their day to day life.A debate competition was also organized wherein girl students of different educational institutions spoke on different aspects like sex determination, malnutrition, immunization, empowerment and other issues.The function was attended by ADC, ACR, ACD, CMO, Tehsildars, DSWO, other district officers, CDPOs and ASHA & Anganwadi Workers, and school girls.