‘Nanhi Chhaan’ fading under ‘Beti Bachao’
Monday, 30/03/2015
http://www.indiapress.org/gen/news.php/The_Tribune/
Bathinda : Union Minister for Food Processing and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal’s “Nanhi Chhaan” campaign has been overshadowed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” campaign.
While no official programme as part of the “Nanhi Chhaan” was conducted in the city in the recent past, the Bathinda MP will be in the city to honour 100 families under the “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” campaign.
Launched by the PM in January this year, the campaign aims at improving the skewed gender ratio across the country. At least 11 state districts feature in the list of 100 districts selected under the campaign across the country. These are Muktsar, Sangrur, Patiala, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur, Barnala, Mansa, Fatehgarh Saheb, Ferozepur, Mohali and Amritsar.
Sources said the “Nanhi Chhaan” campaign was the brainchild of then Ranbaxy chairman Harpal Singh. It was later “hijacked” by Harsimrat Kaur, they said. In collaboration with the SGPC, the campaign was launched on August 27, 2008, from the Golden Temple.
The Badal “bahu” later started her own Nanhi Chhaan Trust. While the trust’s activities have largely remained confined to Bathinda, Ranbaxy’s Nanhi Chhaan Foundation reached Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, MPand Tamil Nadu.
District forest officials confirmed they had stopped growing saplings for “Nanhi Chhaan” due to the non-release of funds. The campaign also suffered a major blow after Harsimrat failed to turn up at a teachers’ protest in Bathinda during which the daughter of one of the protesters died due to illness caused by cold weather.
