CB BureauCombining faith with a social cause, a twin initiative to
save the environment and the girl child was launched on August 1 at the revered
Dargah Sharif in Ajmer, Rajasthan.
It is an initiative of Nanhi Chhann Foundation, a non-profit organization that
connects the issues of environment and girl child collectively to motherhood, and
focuses on social sensitization towards the issues.
‘We must decide if our growth and development has only to be
based on empirical numbers or we want wholesome development. Protecting both
environment and girl child is important if we want to ensure social
development,’ Minister of State for Commerce Jyotiraditya Scindia said while
launching the programme along with Minority Affairs and Corporate Affairs
Minister Salman Khurshid.
The programme will involve the Dargah as well as schools and
colleges across Rajasthan to spread the word for environment and girl child
protection.
‘Little girls who grow up to be mothers and trees, which are
one of nature’s greatest gifts from mother Earth, require protection and
preservation for the sustenance of life on earth,’ Khurshid said. At present, the national gender ratio is 915 females per
1,000 males. The national forest cover is currently a little more than 21
per cent, while it should ideally be at least one-third or 33 per cent.