INDIA 24 Jan 2009 Government creates National Girl Child Day to discourage gender bias

In a bid to raise public awareness on the deep bias against female children in India, THE UNITED Progressive Alliance (UPA) government plans to observe Jan 24 as National Girl Child Day. The government hopes it will raise awareness of sex-selection abortion and female infant abandonment. The date marks the day in 1966 that Indira Gandhi took over as the first woman prime minister of India.

Families of limited economic means see daughters as a financial liability because of a religious tenet that requires the bride's parents to provide a substantial dowry to the groom's parents. Many couples choose abortion when they learn their unborn child is female. Gender bias also drives child marriage, child labor and child trafficking.

India has a skewed sex ratio, with fewer than 925 women for every 1,000 men, because of the gender bias.

UNICEF celebrate the Day of the Girl Child on 24 Sep. It is observed on 15 Oct in Bangladesh.

RELATED READING:

Government to declare National Girl Child Day on Jan 24 (The Economic Times 6 Jan 2009)
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ET_Cetera/National_Girl_Child_day_on_Jan_24/articleshow/3942980.cms