Govt to declare National Girl Child day on January 24

The government would declare January 24 as the national girl child day with a focus on targeting the scourges of female foeticide, domestic violence and malnutrition.

The girl child day to be announced by Women and child development minister Renuka Chaudhry on January 19 was cleared by the Cabinet recently.

Usually, such dates are decided according to international days, but in this case since all countries have their separate days for the girl child, the ministry zeroed in on this day, a senior officer in the Women and Child Development Ministry said.

Along with the declaration, the ministry would also launch a sustained campaign to create awareness about female foeticide, domestic violence and malnutrition in women and children.

The campaign against female foeticide would also include TV spots, advertisements and school lessons propagating gender equality, the officer said.

In the area of domestic violence, the focus would be on providing enough funds to states and ensuring that all states appoint the requisite protection officers.

"We are also planning to provide funds for implementation of the Domestic Violence Act as part of the budget," she said.

Apart from this, the government would award anganwadi workers, women who have shown courage and talented children.