English rendering of the text of PM Shri Narendra Modi’s address at the ceremony to launch "Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao" Programme
Dear brothers, mothers and sisters,
Today on this soil of Panipat we are stepping towards a very huge responsibility. This opportunity is not to analyse which government has done what and which government has not done what?. It is not the time to find the faults or pass the blame. This opportunity on the land of Panipat is for the realization of our responsibilities. Be it the government, the society, the village, the family or the parents, all of us have a collective responsibility. And till we get sensitized as a society towards this problem , till we do not become aware we will not only harm ourselves but will also be inviting deep trouble for the generations to come. And that is why dear brothers and sisters I am grateful to Maneka ji and her department for choosing Haryana for this initiative. Though this programme is being conducted in Panipat , in the state of Haryana the message is for every family in India. It is for every state and every village.
Have we ever imagined what will become of our society in the days to come if we continue with our practices and the society continues to be in the condition in which it currently is. Even today if there are a thousand boys born in our country then there should also be around a thousand girls born. Otherwise the world cannot continue. Today, it is a matter of concern for the whole society in Haryana. Here, look at Jhajjar district look at Mahendragarh district. For a thousand boys there are 775 girls. Out of the 1000 ,around 250 boys will remain unmarried. I want to ask the mothers that if the daughters are not born where will they get the daughters-in-law from? So what we want the society also has to want that. We want educated daughters-in-law but when it comes to educating our daughters we think twice . How long will this injustice continue, how long will we have this duality in our thinking? If we want educated daughters in law, then it is our responsibility to educate our daughters also. We do not educate our daughters but want educated daughters in law, this is not fair. It’s a great injustice. And therefore dear brothers and sisters , I have come here to share a great sorrow with you. I have come here to share a great pain. Did we ever imagine that a land which gives the world the message for humanity , on that very same land a girl will be killed in the mother’s womb itself.
This city of Panipat is the birthplace of the famous scholar of Urdu literature Altaf Hussain Hali. I believe, a land which could give the country a scholar live him with such views, to see girls in such a bad condition in that land is really painful. Hali had said “ O mothers and daughters and sisters , the world is a paradise because of you, the countries are habitable because of you, the pride of villages is you. Can you imagine the poet holds girls in such a high esteem in this very land where we are not even willing to let our girls be born?
Dear brothers and sisters, in olden days when a daughter was born she would be blessed in a certain way. This has been mentioned in our Shastras and it defines the way we should look at our daughters. When our ancestors would bless the girls they would say that “May you live as long as long as people remember the Ganga, , as long as there is the Kurukshetra, as long as the Himalaya stands and as long as the tale of Sita lives.” This was the blessing given on this land and now on this very land the girls are being killed. At the root of this is our mental depravity. Our minds have become sick. And what is the form of this sickness. We consider the boys to be more important and think that the daughters are meant for the in-laws house. All the mothers and daughters sitting here very well know that the very introduction to the mental depravity begins at their very own home. The mother serves to food the children. Khichdi is being served and it has to be topped with Ghee. She serves the son two spoons while the daughter is given one . And forgive me for saying this that this menace is not confined to Haryana. It extends across the country. If the girl argues for more the mother does not even hesitate to tell her, what good it is giving to you when you have to go to someone else’s house. How long will we continue to talk about mine and others? It is our responsibility to awaken the society.
Sometimes the woman who is carrying a girl in her womb does not wish to kill the child. But the family pressure and the family environment force her to become a party to this sin and she is helpless. She is pressurised and as a result of which the girl child is killed in the foetus itself. By no means can we call ourself the citizens of the 21st century. Our mentality is that of the 18th century, that 18th century where girl child was killed in infancy. As soon as a girl was born she was immersed in a vessel full of milk and killed. We are worse than them. Atleast the girl lived for some time in those days, she could open her eyes and see her mother’s face. She could live for a few minutes and sense the world around her. Later the people with diseased mentality would immerse her in milk and kill her. We are worse than those people. We do not allow the girl to see the mother’s face even and allow her to breathe even. We do not let her experience this world and kill her in the mother’s womb. What can be a greater sin than this. It is not as if we are insensitive.
Some years back, in this very district of Haryana, a boy by the name of Prince Kashyap fell into a tube well in the Halda Hedi village. All the nation’s media was present there. The army was called. The entire nation sat to watch the rescue of the child. The mothers of the household did not cook food that day. Every single moment they would ask ‘has Prince been rescued”? This operation lasted for more than 24 hours and the nation waited holding its breath. One child Prince ….he has no connection Kerala with Tamil Nadu. But the entire nation’s empathy was awakened. The mothers and daughters across the country were praying that he comes out alive. I want to ask you that when Prince’s life was in danger we all became so restless. But in our own neighbourhoods so many girls are killed in the womb itself and it does not pain us, then surely the question arises. What has happened to our sensitivity? And hence, I have come to you today. We have no right to kill our daughters.
The thought that the son will take care of us in old age is the biggest myth. If this was so, then the numerous old age homes that have come up would not have opened. The sons have palatial houses and big cars but the parents have to stay in the old age home. There are numerous such instances. And there are numerous instances where the parents only daughter works hard, does a job, maybe takes tuitions but does not allow the parents to go hungry. There are hundreds of daughters who sacrifice their dreams to serve their parents. And there are hundreds of happy sons with unhappy parents. So dear brothers and sisters, if you think that only sons can take care of you in the old age then forget about it. If you raise the children equally with similar values and no disparity, your problems will resolve on their own.
Sometimes, we think that the daughters belong to someone else’s home. I really want to ask you if this kind of a thinking is the right one. Actually it is the other’s house that she is sent to, she quickly makes it her own. She never questions why am I being sent to other village or the other family? She completely sacrifices her life there and accepts whatever comes her way. She highlights the values inculcated by her parents. If someone praises her she credits it to her parents, the value systems that her parents have given her. Wherever she goes she works there to see that she brings pride to her parents.
I would like to mention Kalpana Chawla. Have you ever thought, that it is this very soil of Haryana that Kalpana Chawla hailed from and whom the entire world is proud of? Just imagine, how will we face the world where we are killing girls in that very land where Kalpana Chawla was born. So brothers and sisters, I have come to urge you that if given an opportunity the daughters can fare far better than the some.
Even today you can see the 10th and 12th standard result in your own state Haryana or any other state of India. Among the first ten around 6-7 girls are there. They score more than the boys. You can see the entire education sector of India. Almost 70-75 % women work as teachers. You can see the health sector. More than 60% women constitute the health sector. And our agricultural sector, let the men not pride themselves that the agriculture sector works because of them. Both in agriculture and animal husbandry sector women hold equal partnership. They toil in the fields, make full contribution in the work on the farms and take care of the men working in the fields.
Whatever the west might think, but in reality women in our country make significant contribution to economic growth. In the past few days, when the games were held, if the boys won medals, almost 50% of medals went to girls also. The girls also won Gold Medals. Be it sports, science, business, service or education sector, women are not lagging anywhere. This potential is our greatest strength. And hence I request you to stop discriminating between boys and girls. Our mantra should be – “Boys and Girls are equal.” And once we start treating the boys and girls equally, this tendency of committing the sin of killing the girl child will automatically be eliminated. And for this we need a commitment, empathy and responsibility.
Today I want to share many a thing with you. This is something that touched my heart. When there is a commitment for something, a kind of empathy then people do take bold steps. We have Madhuri Dikshit ji amongst us. Madhuri Nene. Her mother is in the ICU and she has come here to attend this programme in Panipat. Her mother said that this is a noble cause so surely attend it. Despite the bad weather , leaving her ailing mother behind in the ICU , she is here to save your daughters. That is why we need a commitment and a sense of responsibility. And this is a collective responsibility – the village, panchayat, family and the society all have to shoulder their responsibility and then only we will be able to remove this disparity. It will not disappear overnight. This sin has been going on for the past 50 years. We will have to make continuous efforts for the next 100 years and create awareness then probably the things will improve. And that is why I said that this resolve that we are making today, this resolve is going to help many generations to come.
Dear brothers and sisters, today we are launching a scheme on behalf of the government. - Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana. Save daughters, educate daughters. We have to continuously emphasize this. We need a social security to do so. Under the Sukanya Samridhi Yojana the parents of any girl who is less than 10 years old can deposit any amount between 1000 and 1.5 lakh rupees. And the government will pay more interest than is being offered under any other scheme in India. Never will these be any Income Tax on it and when the daughter turns 21, at her marriage or for her education this entire amount will be handed over to her. Parents will never consider her a burden.
The people of Kashi have made me their MP. There is a village Jayapur in Banaras district. This village has adopted me and it takes care of me and guards me. When I went to Jayapur village I said that there should be a celebration whenever a daughter is born in the village. I had requested that there be celebrations and five trees be sown that day. Later I received a letter. After a month or so of my visit that a girl child was born and the entire village celebrated her birth. Not only that the people there also planted five trees. I urge you also that whenever a daughter is born in your household, start five trees. The girl will grow and so will the trees. At the time of marriage if you sell those five trees, you can easily cover the marriage expense.
Dear brothers and sisters, if we work intelligently we can easily take this task forward. So I am starting this programme from the soil of Haryana where the challenge is the biggest though no state of India is free from this challenge. I know that this is a land which nourishes the principles of Dayanand Saraswati. Once Haryana decides and takes a stand, it has the potential to awaken the world. Haryana has played an important role in my rise. I have lived amongst you for years. I have experienced your love. You have cared for me and raised me. Today I have come to ask you for something. The Prime Minister of the country stands here begging you to spare the lives of the girls. Consider the daughters the pride of your families and of the country. You will see that soon we will get out of this mind-set. Both sons and daughters are like the two wings who can help us soar high in life. And for us to scale new heights it is necessary that we give our children wings. Then only the dreams will be realized. And so brothers and sisters, we have to accomplish this task with great responsibility.
I have been told that all of us have to take an oath. You keep sitting at your place and just raise both your hands. I will take an oath and you repeat after me. – “I swear that I will oppose sex determination and female foeticide; I will celebrate the daughter’s birth and will give her a conducive environment and will educate the girls. I will end discrimantion against girls. I will spread the message of "Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao" (Save daughters, educate daughters) through out the society.
Dear brothers and sisters I would also like to talk to the doctors. I want to ask them, is this the only means left to earn money? Will you be happy with this sinful earning? If the doctor’s son remains unmarried and becomes a monster, then what use will this wealth be? I want to ask the doctors that isn’t it your responsibility to not become a party to this sin? Whether the doctors like it or not I want to tell them that it is their responsibility. The society has made you a doctor, you have been educated for your role. It is the poor man’s money that has funded your education. You have been educated to save the lives of other people and save them from pain. You have not been educated to kill the unborn girls. Shake yourself up, think about it, your hands should not be smeared with the blood of innocent people. When you eat your meals in the evening, just see the plate. The mother, the wife, the sister who has prepared that meal is also someone’s daughter. If she had ended up in the hands of some doctors engaged in this kind of practice, then there would be no food in your plate. You just think that the food prepared by this mother, daughter or wife is not smeared with blood of the unborn kids. Just ask yourself my dear doctor brothers and sisters? This sin is a crime against the society. This sin has been going on for centuries and hence it is a social responsibility to curb it. There is no time to blame this government or that. Our duty is to awaken and then march on the right path.
I believe that the entire nation will understand this message. We will work together to save the future of the country. I thank Haryana for hosting this large programme. If Haryana picks up this message, the entire country will follow. I congratulate you all once again. Thank you very much.
Let us move ahead with the mantra to "Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao" (Save daughters, educate daughters). With this expectation say” with me with full force “Bharat Mata Ki Jai, Bharat Mata Ki Jai, Bharat Mata Ki Jai”.
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AKT/AK
(Release ID :157369)