To celebrate the International Day of the Girl Child (IDGC), Sh. Prem Singh Meena, IAS, Secretary, Deptt. of Social Welfare and WCDC, GoB together with UNICEF and UNFPA, launched the Adolescent Life Skills (ALS) package (10-14 and 15-19 age groups). The event also had insightful discussions on the criticality and pertinence of investing in adolescents, especially the adolescent girls in Bihar. The adolescent voices made their representation through a powerful performance by the children from ‘Kilkari’ Bal Bhawan.
In his keynote address, Sh. Prem Singh Meena, Secretary, Social Welfare Department, GoB said that there is no hesitation in saying that women in the society are going through challenging situations. To overcome these challenges, many schemes are being run by different departments including WCDC to empower girls. These steps taken by the government for women empowerment have also yielded some positive results. While Mukhyamantri bi-cycle Yojana has proved to be a game changer to increase the attendance of girls in schools, provision of 50 percent reservation for women in Panchayats has resulted in their political empowerment. In fact, other states are also adopting Bihar’s model. There is a need to develop the girl child as an active part of our society. He expressed hope that with the concerted efforts of all stakeholders, Bihar will emerge as a national leader in terms of empowering our girl population.
