Patang Mahatsov At Taj City To Promote ‘Save Girl Child’ On Makar Sankranti
13 January, Agra
Around 5,000 doctors from across the country as well as abroad will fly kites during a ‘Patang Mahotsov’ in the Taj city tomorrow on the occassion of Makar Sankranti at Kalakriti ground to spread the message of ‘save girl child’.
A group of 72 girls from various parts of South India will take out a flame torch rally from Trichi to Agra in support of the girl child. The girls who would be reaching here today will hand over the flame torch to the organisers tomorrow.
These events are part of the 59th All India Congress of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, which is being organized here at Kalakriti Grounds in Agra from January 13 to 17. Over 5,000 doctors, including 200 from abroad, are expected to participate in the event. Union health minister J P Nadda, actress and BJP MP Kirron Kher, MoS HRD Ramshankar Katheria will inaugurate the mega event tomorrow evening.
In the morning tomorrow, the doctors attending the Congress will fly kites to aware the people about the importance of girl child.
According to the organisors here, today a pre-Congress workshop has been planned where 13 sessions on women issues would be held as well as 60 operations at three city’s hospitals would be live telecast for the gathering. All these operations are being done free of cost.
During the five-day event, over 700 research papers will be presented by doctors from Indian and abroad.
A total of 200 doctors from over a dozen countries including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the US, China, Afghanistan and UK among others, are participating.
An exhibition and stalls of medical products with a focus to project Agra as a medical tourism venue will also be on display.
Meanwhile, a group of girls between 16 and 23 years of age have traveled around 3,100 kilometres from Kanyakumari to Agra to spread the ‘save girl child’ message. During their journey by train, the group of girls got down at various stations to propagate the message. They would step off the train and defiantly whistle in public – often considered to be a taboo for girls – to garner people’s attention to this cause.
They have also brought a flame torch with them, which they intend to give to Union health minister J P Nadda tomorrow during the inaugural function of a workshop organised in the city by the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI).
The girl’s group comprises students from class XI to PhD scholars. The campaign was flagged off on January 8 from Vivekananda Rock Memorial at Kanyakumari. A marathon and a seminar were also organized there.
Among the conscientious bunch of girls is Karpagam, a 22-year-old PhD scholar of Tamil Nadu University. She is a polio patient but she has travelled with the team to tell the society that being disabled or a girl doesn’t make her weak. Instead, girls should be proud of their achievements, she had added.