On the ocassion of International Girl Child Day, we present you a few glimpses of the travails and hardships that little girls are contending with in the NCR. Some of these pictures will tug at your heartstrings and make you wonder if we really should be celebrating this day. After all what milestones have we reached in terms of ensuring the safety and well-being of little girls in this city? And after all the lofty claims of non governmental organisations, social development agencies and the government, newspapers abound with chilling accounts of abduction, rape and molestation. Moreover, in terms of securing nutrition and education opportunities too, we have nothing to boast about.
An underage help watches over a young child.
Even during the course of a function, these girls from a municipal school are made to sit on the ground. This seldom happens in private schools and is a telling reminder of the fact that we have failed to secure equal opportunities for the girl child in more ways than we already know.
On a chilly winter morning, a mother (hailing from the low income group)escorts her daughters to the school bus. The light sweaters are clearly inappropriate for the season.
A daily wage earner tries to see if a shoe, which she had found on the roadside, would fit her daughter.
A young flower seller gathers her daily quota from the flower mandi.