Rally to Save the Girl Child

50 million girls have been eliminated from India's population in the last century. 10 million girls have been killed by their parents, either before or immediately after birth in the last two decades. The story has gone worse. The latest 2011 census figures drove it home even harder. The child sex ratio is the lowest since Independence – 914 females to 1000 males. The average ratio of women to men is 940 to 1000 (2011 census) and in some parts of the country, it is as low as 387 women to a 1000 men!

Last month, a rally was organised in Bangalore to raise and spread awareness on this critical and pressing national issue. Hundreds of citizens hit the streets as a part of the Global Walk for India's Missing Girls (GWFIMG) — a campaign to raise awareness about the female foeticide and infanticide in our country. Nearly 7000 girls are killed in India everyday and 15 million girls go missing from the country every year.

Staff from Ujjivan took part in the rally in large numbers. They came from all walks of life and from various departments such as Credit, Operations, Finance and Product, among others. Many of them designed their own placards with hard-hitting information and slogans. The Global Walk was undertaken in 16 cities across the world.



India Against Corruption campaign

Anna Hazare’s call to fight corruption with the Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizens’ Ombudsman Bill), received massive support countrywide and even globally. His hunger strike, struck a chord with large swathes of the population – economic, cultural and age differences notwithstanding. Large rallies and campaign centres sprung up overnight in big cities and small towns all over the country. In Bangalore, the crowd swelled at Freedom Park, as students, activists, non-governmental organizations, resident welfare associations and film actors joined the protest to weed out corruption and implement the Jan Lokpal Bill.

The protest in Bangalore started with just 150 persons. The second day, it went up to 800. There were at least 3,500 people on the third day, reaching nearly 10,000 on the fourth day. A group from Ujjivan participated in the protest at the site from the third day. They shouted slogans and led candle-lit vigils late into the night. Some of the staff were also on hand at Freedom Park to celebrate the acquiescence of the Government to the demand for an effective anti-corruption bill.