Lek Ladki Abhiyan

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India supported DMVM for a campaign on the girl child, titled Lek Ladki Abhiyaan. The program was implemented in eight districts of Maharashtra having low Child Sex Ratios. The districts included: Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur, Sholapur, Ahmednagar, Pune, Beed and Mumbai. The program was launched from Satara on 15 th April 2012. The key objectives of the program were:

• • Promoting positive image of the girl child

  • Creating awareness on the issue of sex selection

  • Strengthening implementation of PCPNDT Act

  • Working on root causes of discrimination

  • Stimulating behavior change and community action on the issue of sex selection

As part of the campaign, DMVM worked with various stake holders to create awareness on the issue of sex selection. These included capacity building of Women’s groups; Yuva mandals; elected representatives, school teachers, parents of young children, etc. DMVM also organised meetings with Appropriate Authorities and Advisory Committee members in order to strengthen implementation of the PCPNDT Act. A series of campaigns and rallies were organised involving adolescents and youth in the various districts. Extensive use of folk media was made to create awareness and promote a positive image of the girl child. As part of the campaign we also conducted 47 decoy operations on erring doctors and cases filed in the Court.