MORE POWER TO GIRLS ON THIS NATIONAL GIRL CHILD DAY

24 Jan 2018

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Seeing girls rise, shine and succeed in life is all I want. Girls can do wonders, therefore it is important to provide them with a conducive environment and good facilities. On the occasion of National Girl Child Day, I request parents to give their best in bringing up their daughters in a non-discriminating manner. 

I strongly believe girls exude an unrestrained amount of positive energy, and that is why I start all important occasions of my life by worshipping them. Immediately after assuming the role of the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, I started Ladli Laxmi Yojana. A scheme like this was quintessential to stop people from treating girl child as a burden. 

We have made arrangements to provide Rs 1.18 lakh to every girl child from the time of their birth till they turn 21 years of age. It gives me immense satisfaction that more than 26 lakh ladli laxmi have already benefitted from this scheme. To ensure girls continue their middle and high school education and do not drop out, we provide them with bicycles. To remove other obstacles in education, we provide free-of-cost books and uniforms to girl child. Programmes like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao have been introduced to give a fillip to girl child education.

Marriage is a major concern for parents of girls. As their Mama, I have taken up the cudgel of the marriage of daughters from economically weaker sections through Kanyadaan/Nikah Yojana.

These have been some of my endeavours of inviting a dawn of change in society’s outlook towards girl child and I believe I have succeeded to a certain extent. My happiness knew no bounds to learn that Bhind District, which suffered from low female sex ratio, has scripted a new history by registering the birth of the highest number of girls among the districts where Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao campaign was implemented in the country. 

I staunchly believe that people who perform abhorrent crimes like rape are beasts and have no right to be a part of the civil society. With this thought, our government introduced a bill demanding capital punishment for rapists of minor girls. The bill that was unanimously passed in the winter session of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly is awaiting the consent of the Honourable President of India. However, the government alone cannot be the harbinger of change and the society needs to join the cause for the protection of girls. We need to educate our children and instil good values in them. 

I conclude by requesting parents to identify the strengths of their daughters and give them an opportunity to grow. Girls of our state are doing stellar jobs; they are bringing laurels to the state in form of National and International Awards, becoming the heads of corporate giants, scaling mountains, running marathons, flying fighter jets, and taking care of their families with élan. It is time, we realize the potential of empowered women in building the nation and encourage them to rise to their full potential.