The Hindu : Kids produce audio on neglect of girl child

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 22, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Kids produce audio on neglect of girl child

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, FEB. 21. An audio programme on the "Girl Child'' was launched at a colloquium on "Today's Girl Child is Tomorrow's Empowered Woman" organized by the Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti on Saturday. The audio programme has been produced by the children of CASP-PLAN promoted Bal Panchayat and focuses on the discrimination of the girl child, the problems and the issues involved. The children were trained at a radio workshop during Gandhi Summer School last year.

Speaking at the colloquium organized as a tribute to Kasturba Gandhi on the eve of her 60th anniversary, Saroj of Bal Panchayat said the children would use the audio programme in the community to create awareness on issues related to the girl child. She pointed out that this was the first in the series of audio programmes being produced by the children. More such audio programmes are being planned by them to create awareness on the issue in the community, she added.

Moderating the colloquium, Shipra Wadhwa of the Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies (VIPS) said: "Men who project women as weak and exploit them must feel ashamed of themselves, since his very existence in the world is because of a woman." About 200 students from various schools, colleges and voluntary organizations participated in the colloquium.

Nirmala of Bal Panchayat, while presenting her study on the coverage of the girl child in the media, underscored that there was inadequate coverage by the press at large. In her presentation, she said media should stop projecting the negative side of a woman.

She said, "whenever an incident of rape occurs, the media raises questions on the character of the girl", which she felt, "should be stopped immediately". She appealed to the media to find the truth before jumping to any conclusions.

Laxmi of Badte Kadam underlined the problems of the girl child in the street. She spoke of the vulnerability of the working girls and the humiliation and contempt they face. Nevertheless they can become empowered women "if they make up their mind". Neha from Vardhman Shiksha Mandir said parents should be more caring and faithful towards the girl child and should trust them.

On the occasion, the national bike racer, Bittoo Sondhi interacted with the children and told them how even women have started participating in bike rallies proving that they are not inferior to men anyway. He told children to dream and reach for the stars but at the same time, they should cultivate an egalitarian approach.

In his address, the former YMCA president, Sydney Rebeiro, stressed the need of inter-sex partnership not with a competitive mind.

He said there should be small initiatives like writing letters to editors and email campaigns, which could result in bigger movements on issue of the girl child. He added: "The changing dynamics of society in the metros and big towns where girls are heading big posts and working at nights at call centres, or as SHOs in police stations is a major headway in empowering the women".

The highlight of the colloquium was a musical tribute to Kasturba Gandhi by Baby Benzy, a very special child. Her renditions included Raag Basant, Jyoti Kalash Chalke and Ai Malik Tere Bande Hum.

Those who spoke on the occasion included Jyotsna Chatterjee, Director, Joint Women's Programme and Razia Ismail , former World Chaiman, YWCA.

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