The district administration Bandipora on Monday organised a day long function to celebrate International Girl Child Day with an aim to sensitize masses regarding the importance of girl child. The programme was organised by District Administration as per District Action Plan of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) in collaboration with Mahilla Shakti Kendra, Department of ICDS, School Education and Health dept Bandipora.The programme was attended by Deputy Commissioner (DC) Bandipora, Dr Owais Ahmad, Additional Deputy Commissioner Bandipora, Zahoor Ahmad Mir, Joint Director Planning, Imtiyaz Ahmad, Coordinator BBBP, District Social Welfare Officer, District Officers, Coordinator and Members of Women’s Committee, BBBP, teachers, Girl students from various educational institutions of the district, ICDS workers besides female employees of various departments.On the occasion, the DC said that the female folk must realise their importance and role in society. He said, the girls who have achieved success in various fields of life must act as ambassadors to guide other girls to utilise their potential in a proper way.He said girls are important stakeholders of society and it is our collective responsibility to take care of girl child for the empowerment of women. Dr Owais in his address stressed on the need to empower the women folk so that they can feel free to raise their issues. He stressed on installation of CCTV cameras at all workplaces and asked women employees to raise issues of Harassment at the workplace, if any. He stressed on MSK and OSC to release a video detailed procedure of raising harassment issues.
While speaking on the occasion, the ADC Bandipora, Zahoor Ahmad Mir highlighted the objectives of the programme and said we must encourage girls for social, economic and political development of society.While highlighting the activities of the administration under BBBP, he said several awareness programmes were held this year besides distributing pamphlets and holding several activities to sensitize the people about gender equality.Joint Director Planning Imtiyaz Ahmad enumerated different measures/initiatives undertaken by the District Administration Bandipora regarding various aspects of women empowerment like establishment of OSC, MSK, PDI, and Growth Charts in ANWCs. Coordinator, Women’s Committee, BBBP, Dr Nuzhat Wali deliberated on the topic, "How can Girls be Independent" and spoke about providing equal opportunities to girls in the beginning to help them to become a learned person.Dr Rabia Naseem, Academic Officer, SCERT J&K, Srinagar was invited as special guest speaker on the occasion. She spoke in length on various aspects of women issues and empowerment and also discussed in detail an idea of Empowered Women.Baseera Rafiqui talked about the ‘Role of Women in Changing Lives’ and spoke about the changing roles of women in current times and how basic education to adolescent girls can pave a way for a better future. Asha Nazir highlighted digital safety of women on social media while Muntazimul Islam talked about issues faced by the women. Farkhanda Reyaz and Munaza Manzoor deliberated on the topic, "Empowerment of Women ''.