CM participates in seminar held to mark National Girl Child Day
By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 24 Jan: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami participated in a seminar organised on the topic of ‘Women’s participation in sports’ at the new multipurpose hall in the Parade Ground here, today, on the occasion of National Girl Child Day. At the function, he also honoured the women players who had recently performed commendably in various sports.
The Chief Minister extended greetings to all the girls of the state on National Girl Child Day. He said that the Day is an important occasion to reiterate the commitment towards women empowerment and further strengthen the ongoing efforts to empower the girl child in every walk of life.
The CM said, “The safety of daughters is the responsibility of all of us. As the chief servant of the state, I will never back down from taking the harshest action against anyone who insults any daughter of the state. Our daughters are our pride and honour. There are many names in Uttarakhand like those of Teelu Rauteli, Tincheri Mai, Gaura Devi, Chandraprabha Aitwal, Gangotri Garbyal, Bachendri Pal, Vandana Katariya, etc., who have raised the honour and respect of the state by overcoming major challenges. Today, our daughters have made a special place for themselves in every field and have brought laurels to the state. From education to sports and from scientific research to military campaigns, our daughters are participating actively.”
The Chief Minister added that various schemes launched by the Central and State Governments under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi were helping make the girls self-reliant and empowered. The state government has made a provision to give 30 percent reservation to women in government jobs. He reminded that only a few months ago, an amount of Rs 323 crores had been transferred by the state government to 80,000 girls of the state under the ‘Nanda Gaura Yojana’. This, he said, would certainly help in laying the foundation of a better future for the daughters of Uttarakhand. The Chief Minister added that the enrolment of girls in schools had increased and the sex ratio had also improved. It is clear that various schemes being run for girls are having a positive impact. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, the state government had also started various schemes from the birth of daughters to their education, health and skill development, in which the ‘Mahalakshmi Kit Yojana’ is the basic mantra of ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’. Initiatives like ‘Khushiyon Ki Sawaari’, ‘Nanda Gaura’ scheme, ‘Chief Minister Aanchal Amrit’ scheme, ‘Chief Minister Women Nutrition’ scheme are being run for the welfare of the girls in the state.
He declared that, in 2025, when Uttarakhand would be celebrating the silver jubilee of the state’s formation, the daughters and mothers of Uttarakhand would be playing an important role in the goal of making Uttarakhand a leading state.
Women Empowerment, Child Development and Sports Minister Rekha Arya said that the State Women’s Commission is organising a seminar on girls focusing on sports. This was a commendable initiative. Efforts have been made to provide all possible facilities in the new sports policy of the state so that the girls could progress rapidly. Efforts have also been made to provide every facility in the new sports policy so that players do not have to go through financial crisis to get their talent recognised. The amount given to the players for food had been increased from Rs 150 to Rs 175 per day. About 3900 children in the state are being given scholarship of Rs 1500 per child under the Mukhyamantri Udiyaman Khiladi Unnayan Yojana, in which 50 percent are girls.
MLAs Khajan Das, Savita Kapoor, State Women’s Commission Chairperson Kusum Kandwal, Sports Director Jitendra Sonkar and girls from different areas of the state were present on the occasion.