The 68th Republic Day Parade in New Delhi will feature 23 Tableaux, of which 17 will be presented by various states and Union Territories and 6 will be put up by central government ministries and enterprises.
This year, the Central Government’s important mission of ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ will get a major boost as it was chosen to be one of the important themes in India’s 68th Republic Day parade, with a tableau dedicated to highlighting the importance and achievements of the mission.
The ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ initiative was launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Haryana on January 22, 2015, in response to the alarming drop in child sex ratio.
According to the Census 1991, the child sex ratio between 0-6 years was 945 girls for every 1000 boys. By Census 2001, the ratio had dropped to 927 and by 2011, it had further declined to 918 girls for every 1000 boys. This significant drop was causing major social problems in several states and therefore has been accorded due priority by the central government.
In response, the government launched the ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ mission with an initial corpus of Rs 100 crore. The mission aims at:
- Prevention of gender biased sex selective elimination
- Ensuring survival & protection of the girl child
- Ensuring education and participation of the girl child
The purpose is to raise general awareness of the problem and to highlight various initiatives of the government directed towards welfare measures for the girl child.
In this context, the tableau on ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ mission comes at the right time and in the backdrop of the immensely popular film ‘Dangal’ by film actor Aamir Khan.
The film highlighted the issue of girls being neglected in all walks of life, including sports, in Haryana. The state has an acute child sex ratio problem where girls are not given due recognition nor opportunity to study, play and work.
The tremendous response to the film can also be seen in the fact that in one village in Haryana, all families have decided to put up a nameplate of their elder girl child on their main door. The Sarpanch of the village took the initial decision which was supported and followed by the panchayat, and now the entire village has decided to adopt the same.
This is a positive step towards recognising the potential of the girl child and what they can achieve in later life, if only given the right encouragement and opportunity.
Child infanticide is another existing problem in many parts of India and therefore there’s a need to create an awareness of this social evil. The 68th Republic Day celebration parade this year will be a great opportunity to once again draw national attention to need for saving and educating the girl child.
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