The Hindu Business Line : <I>Laadli </I> - Girl child to be theme for Ganesh festival in Mumbai

WITH a dismal sex ratio of 898 girls for every 1,000 boys below six years in Mumbai, an advocacy group has used the Ganesh festival to change people's mindset towards the girl child.

Mumbaikars going to the Ganesh festival celebrations at Rani Baug Mandal would find Laadli — Mumbai's girl child campaign — as a backdrop to the idol. In its 34th year of existence, this venue is the only place to have adopted the Laadli theme for the 10-day festival. The venue receives about 10,000 devotees a day, says advocacy group Population First, spear-heading this campaign.

In addition to this, the main pandal has been decorated using the Laadli theme, with posters etc. Besides street plays and screening of films on the subject, five community Laadlis or girl achievers from various fields would also be facilitated by celebrities, the advocacy group said.

Visitors would also be given pocket calendars with a Laadli message and celebrity trustees of the advocacy group, such as Keshub Mahindra, Mandira Bedi, Ashutosh Gowariker and Aditi Gowitrikar would also lend their support to the girl child.

Residents going to the most famous celebration of the Hindu deity, the Lalbaug Raja would be able to visit the Laadli stall at the venue. The stall, put up for recreational purposes will have banners and posters on the Laadli campaign, says the group. The Lalbaug Raja, as it is popularly known in the city, receives the maximum number of devotees, approximately a lakh a day, says the advocacy outfit.

Population First launched Laadli — Mumbai's Girl Child Campaign — in June this year to address the problem of falling sex ratio in Mumbai. It is a positive campaign with the central message `Celebrate her life'.

As part of its initiative to work with the community, the non-governmental organisation plans to use opportunities provided by community celebration, such as the festivals of Ganeshotsva, Navratri etc.

And in one such initiative, the advocacy group got the Brihanmumbai Ganeshotsav Samanvay Samithi to lend its support to the girl child. This meant that prominent space and opportunity to organise the Laadli programmes would be given at some of popular Ganesh mandals during the 10-day festival.

The group's primary objective is to provide visibility, create awareness about the falling sex ratio and the Pre-conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques [Prevention of misuse] (PNDT) Act and to promote the image of the girl child.

The city's college students, in support of Laadli would perform puppet shows on issues facing the girl child. These shows would be performed over the 10 days of the festival.

Other venues such as the Abhyudaya Nagar Raja, touted to be the third largest Ganpati in Mumbai, organised film screenings on the girl child issue, including Suneeta Rao's film Laadli. The advocacy agency's representatives would also speak at the venue, while volunteers would take feedback from the visitors to clarify doubts.

The mandal receives about 20,000 people a day, the agency said.

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