Gandhinagar/Chandigarh

Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel will travel to Haryana tomorrow to join the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign.

Tomorrow, all gram panchayats in Haryana will take a pledge to put an end to the menace of female foeticide and protect the girl child under the “Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao” programme.

The Mahila Sabhas and Ward Sabhas of all villages would take this pledge, a spokesman of the Development and Panchayat Department said.

Government’s ambitious ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme’ to improve the child sex ratio will be launched from Panipat by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 22.

The ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign would be implemented in 100 districts of the country, out of which 12 districts of Haryana with the lowest sex ratio have been selected. These are Mahendergarh, Jhajjar, Rewari, Sonepat, Ambala, Kurukshetra, Rohtak, Karnal, Yamuna Nagar, Kaithal, Bhiwani and Panipat.

Ahead of the launch of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign, awareness drives were organised across the state to sensitise people about girl child education and improvement in sex ratio in Haryana.

Union Minister for Rural Development Birender Singh flagged off the yatra yesterday from the premises of Chaudhary Ranbir Singh Hooda University in Jind.

Addressing a gathering on the occasion, Singh said “adverse sex ratio” had emerged as a big challenge before the society and every citizen should make efforts to check the imbalance.

He added that everybody should come forward to eradicate menace of female foeticide.

Singh said that women in their roles as a mother-in-law, daughter-in-law or a sister-in-law should strongly raise their voices against those who pressurise and persuade them for acts of female foeticide.

The Haryana PWD (B&R) and Public Health Minister Rao Narbir Singh flagged off the awareness yatra from the premises of Swatantrata Senani Zila Parishadn Bhawan in Gurgaon.

Addressing the gathering after flagging off the awareness Yatra from Rajiv Gandhi Sports Complex, Ambala City today, Haryana’s Health and Sports Minister, Anil Vij urged the Khap Panchayats or caste councils, social organisations, religious and non-government organisations to exercise their influence to curb female foeticide.

Union and state ministers had yesterday flagged off similar awareness tours from 12 districts of Haryana.

© With inputs from PTI