Girl Child Day, 6th October 2012

Picture Courtesy- Mid Day

In 21^st century India, there is a wide gap between the rich and the poor, the literate and the illiterate and most importantly the boy and girl child. Even in today’s times, the boy child is given priority over the girl child. Every girl has the right to education, freedom and enjoy a carefree childhood. But instead they are looked down and treated as inferior because they are born as a ‘girl’.

CRY strongly advocates in supporting the girl child and organizes various campaigns for the cause. October 2012 was ‘Support The Girl Child’ month. It came up with the idea of ‘Iccha’ , an awareness spreading initiative for encouraging people to support the girl child. Every year, there are many girls who dream of going to school, read textbooks, play in the park and enjoy a normal childhood. But these ‘icchas’ never become a reality. So to make these dreams come true, a 40 day campaign was launched where people shared more than 1392 faces of Iccha, signed the pledge to demand every girl’s signed the pledge to demand every girl's right from authorities and participated in on-ground activities held across the country to support education for the girl child.

CRY Pune hosted the ‘ Girl Child Day’ celebrations on 6^th October, 2012. The event was a major success and was held at  Phoenix Market City, Pune. Also it was the very first event which was conducted by the CRY Pune Organisation. The celebrations were flagged off by Bikerni, a one-of-its-kind only- women’s biking group from Pune. The rally started off from SNDT college and ended at  Fergusson College,3rd Gate.

There was a photo exhibition, which featured the ICCHA entries, at the venue. Also there was a signature campaign to pledge support for the girl child. The campaign was a huge hit amongst the shoppers , and the fact that there are many people who are willing to pledge the support for the girl child’s education is, overwhelming.

Furthermore, 2 rock bands performed to show their support for the cause. They were Karvaan, Ajaladhwani and a solo performance by Rachit Lakhmani.

The event carried out on a good note, filled with melodies, lots of signatures and a strong support for the optimistic future of the girl child.

A Step Towards Change

Millions of India's children are denied the simple joys of childhood - love, protection and often life itself. For 

any significant change to be possible, it will require each one of us to start thinking of children, as citizens with 

the same rights that we consider our due.We, at CRY believe that ALL children are equal, with equal rights. 

We invite you to voice your views, thoughts and feelings about children and their rights.