CII celebrates Nanhi Chhaan Day to mark International Women’s Day

CII – M&M lay foundation stone of toilet construction at Government High School, Village Bhootgarh, near Mullanpur, 

NewZNew (Chandigarh) : A mass revolution in Mindset amongst all stakeholders of the society, especially the young men and older women is needed to resolve and fight the evil of female foeticide prevalent majorly in Punjab and Haryana. This was the joint call given by experts at a session on ‘Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity’ as part of ‘Nanhi Chhaan Day’ celebrated by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) at its Headquarters in Sector 31 A, here today. Hundreds of saplings were also distributed at CII.

“Though, a lot of laws and acts have been enacted against this evil, but until and unless, the deep-rooted mindset is revolutionised, the gender ratio will keep on falling. There is need for a strong movement in this regard with support of young men and community leaders as also successful women so as to bring a positive mindset transformation across the society”, emphasised Mr Harpal Singh, Past Chairman, CII NR, Chairman, Nanhi Chhaan Foundation & Mentor & Chairman Emeritus, Fortis Healthcare Ltd while addressing a huge gathering of men and women from vast fields including the academicians, professionals, industrialists and Govt officials.

[blockquote author=”lamented Mr Singh.” pull=”pullright”]“It is alarming that the sex ratio in India has further fallen from 945 girls / 1000 boys in 1991 to 919 girls / 1000 boys in 2011 while that of Punjab and Haryana is even below the national average at 895 and 857 respectively as per latest census”[/blockquote]

“There is a critical need to protect Girls and Trees as both are sources of life, and the Human race cannot exist in their absence. Environment and women have always been linked together as both trees and mothers are considered as the greatest nurturers and selfless givers of nature. Humans have been involved in acts of self-destruction by dangerously cutting forest cover and killing girl child through infanticide and foeticide.  It is time to stop this trend – we needed a movement. Hence, we launched the Nanhi Chhaan initiative to honour and recognize the importance of preserving trees and protecting girls and in turn mothers. Under this initiative, we aim to target on three aspects viz Care and protection of the girl child, Enhancing Green cover and Inter – Religion harmony”, shared Mr Harpal Singh.

As part of CII’s Mission ‘Sanitation in Schools’, to construct and maintain toilets in Govt schools to support Swachh Bharat, Swachh Vidyalaya Abiyaan of the Prime Minister, CII & its member Mahindra & Mahindra (Swaraj Division) has initiated construction of toilet at Government High School, Village Bhootgarh, Near Mullanpur, Chandigarh, here today.

Its foundation stone was laid down by Mr Harpal Singh, Past Chairman, CII NR, Chairman, Nanhi Chhaan Foundation & Mentor & Chairman Emeritus, Fortis Healthcare Ltd and Mr Harish Chavan, Vice Chairman, CII Punjab State Council & COO, Mahindra & Mahindra, Swaraj Division.

“Today, women need to make their voice heard loud and clear and ensure that there is balance in the society. They have special powers and qualities of compassion and nurturing, which men do not have. They are the ones who really make the homes. But their security and safety is a real concern. Today, women are not even safe at homes, what to talk of offices or in transit. So often, we hear about cases of domestic violence, sexual assaults and rapes by cousins, close aides, friends or paternal / maternal uncles et”, shared Mrs Geetika Kalha, President, Village life Improvement Foundation & Former Additional Chief Secretary – Tourism, Government of Punjab.

Regarding female foeticide, she further said that “Inculcation of values and respect towards women is small male kids right from their elementary education is the key to a balanced society. It is high time, we stopped depending on luck, rather work aggressively on changing the century old mind-sets and value systems especially of older women, which can be done by the young men of the society”.

“CII and its members are always committed and have primary invocations to save the Girl Child, Save the Environment and to Save Humanity through inter faith harmony; hence we collaborated with the Nanhi Chhaan Foundation in 2008. CII NR celebrated today as Nanhi Chhaan Day like each year”, shared Mr Pikender Pal Singh, Regional director, CII NR.

Mr Parveen Bansal, CEO, Focal Skill Development Pvt Ltd shared that “Under our initiative “Kvach”, we aim to attain holistic safety and security for women. In present times, the best option for a woman is to guard herself as bringing attitudinal change is difficult. Kavach (as the name suggests) equips a woman with the basic guarding techniques as well as develops the innate will to fight against crime & atrocities against women.