Nanhi Chhaan seeks global boost

CHANDIGARH: A land that has failed to keep its daughters alive has found a saviour in its favourite bahu (daughter-in-law) — Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Bathinda MP and the wife of Punjab’s deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal. Handling Nanhi Chhaan — an NGO working to save the girl child and promote environmental protection — Harsimrat is keen on finding financial support from international organizations like UNICEF and CRY for the initiative.
"By going global, Nanhi Chhaan can hope to save many more precious lives," she says.
Disturbed by the criminal sex ratio in Punjab, 796:1000 in 2001 in the 0-4 age group, the MP had launched the NGO about one-and-a-half years ago.
Apart from her plans to take Nanhi Chhaan on a wider plank, Harsimrat is eagerly looking forward to a national conference on women empowerment scheduled for October 6 at Amritsar. "I’m delighted that President Pratibha Patil will attend the event. There’s an immediate need to address the issue of women empowerment in this country," she says, clearly elated by the buzz the scheduled assemblage is creating.
Keen on getting an equally enthusiastic response from the state government, she says, "I would like Punjab to ensure that girls get a safe mode of transportation to school till class XII." The request, she assures, is already before the chief minister, her father-in-law.
The young MP thinks offering incentives like fixed deposits to parents on the birth of second girl child could prevent foeticide. Her concern is also centred around the fact that the urban population has shown no mercy to the girls.
"There’s a strong parallel in the bonds between mother and child on one hand and trees and earth on the other," says Harsimrat, talking about her other passion, environment.
Despite working tirelessly for close to 18 months, Harsimrat is not stopping even for a breather. "‘Nanhi Chhaan’ will soon wage a war against the fiendish problem of drug abuse in Punjab," she promises.