To encourage ‘girl child’ to excel in their respective fields, Himachal Pradesh would soon constitute a Board for the welfare and empowerment of girls in the state.

In addition, out of the 10 Mukhaya Mantri Adarsh Vidhalayas being opened in the state, five would be exclusively for girl students. This was stated by the Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur while presiding over the ‘Betion Ka Samman’ function organised by Manavi Organisation on Thursday.

CM said, “It was unfortunate that even today in our society the birth of a boy was celebrated with great fanfare, but birth of a girl with a gloom and this was due to several social stigma and age old myths. However, it was a matter of satisfaction that situation of Himachal Pradesh was better as compared to other states of the country.”

He said that the sex ratio was gradually improving in the state due to efforts of the government and mass awareness.

It was the need of the hour to work collectively for the welfare and empowerment of the women to make our society more vibrant and strong, he added.

The Chief Minister said that it becomes the responsibility of each one of us to work for creating mass awareness regarding women empowerment and sensitizing the people regarding equality of girl child.

The state government has launched ‘Gudiya Helpline’ and ‘Shakti App’ for safety and empowerment of the women and girls, he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was really considerate towards women empowerment and cleanliness campaign, as both these issues were dear to him, he added.

He honoured 24 girls excelling in different field on the occasion. While congratulating the award winning daughters, the Chief Minister wished them all a bright and glorious future. He also announced Rs 21, 000 each to all 24 award winning girls from his discretionary fund.

The Chief Minister also released a souvenir brought out by the Manvi Organisation.

Education minister Suresh Bhardwaj said that the successive BJP governments in the state had always been considerate towards the welfare and empowerment of the women.

He said that today both Defense and Foreign Ministries were headed by women in the Centre, which shows to commitment of Narendra Modi for empowering women in the country.

“Our culture and civilisation gives highest place to women, but unfortunately several social vices crept in, “he said, adding that we should work collectively to fight this so that women get equal opportunities to develop and progress for which education of girl child was vital.

Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Dr Rajiv Saizal said that the state government was committed for the welfare and empowerment of women.

Although, girls were today excelling in all the field of life, however still the decreasing sex ratio was a matter of concern, he added.