January 24 is marked on the calendar as National Girl Child Day 2020 and it is generally celebrated on, Friday. In order to spread awareness about the inequalities faced by the girl child among the people, and to ensure that they get equal opportunities and exposure, the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the Government of India established National Girl Child Day in 2008.
National Girl Child Day holds a lot of history, objectives, significance, and importance in this fight for equality in India. National Girl Child Day celebrations are focused on raising awareness on the problems that the girl child continues to face in today’s time, from female foeticide to child marriages and more. As we prepare to celebrate National Girl Child Day 2020, here is everything you need to know about this annual commemoration.
When is National Girl Child Day Celebrated?
Every year January 24 is marked as the time when National Girl Child Day is celebrated. This observance began in 2008 and was an initiative started by the Ministry of Women and Child Development and Government of India.
Significance of National Girl Child Day
Women had suffered at the hands of society’s rules and regulations since time immemorial, from the ancient practices of Sati, where a widow would have to burn herself alive on the pyre of her dead husband, to child marriage, dowry, gender inequality. And we all know How women are treated in other spaces too. Time and space hadn’t been the altering factor in the ways we treat womanhood.
Objectives of National Girl Child Day
- To make people aware of all the inequalities faced by girls in the country.
- To promote awareness about the rights a girl child possess.
- To enhance awareness on the importance of girl education, health, and nutrition.
How is National Girl Child Day celebrated?
The government takes a lot of initiatives to discuss these main objectives with the help of various annual themes presented to educate the cause of girl empowerment. The theme of National Girl Child Day last year was ‘Empowering girls for a better tomorrow.’
This day is generally marked by organizing different awareness campaigns on saving the girl child, their rights, nutrition, health, and other issues. Govt has taken major productive steps like Banning ultrasound for gender discrimination and making child marriages illegal.
As per the 2011 Census, the literacy rate among females is as low as 65.46% as against 82.14% of males. This data shows the discrimination and inequalities that women face in today’s time. To make the situation better, the government have launched some social scheme including the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao social scheme. In the International sphere, this day is usually treated as an International Girl Child Day.
