National Girl Child Day 2024: Know History, Significance & More

Every year, National Girl Child Day is celebrated on January 24. This day is observed to cast light on the challenges and obstacles faced by girls in Indian society. This very day is present to promote equal educational, healthcare, and nutritional opportunities all the while raising awareness of the injustices faced by a girl child. Throughout this day, the government aims to highlight and emphasize the principles of dignity and equality for every girl child out there. Each year, there are several national awareness campaigns launched promoting girls’ empowerment. In the nation, this day falls on the same day as the central government-sponsored schemes including, “Beti Padhao and Beti Bachao (Save the Girl Child, Educate the Girl Child). This represents a united attempt to overcome challenges such as child marriage, discrimination, and violence against girls.

National Girl Child Day 2024: Date and history

NationNational Girl Child Day 2024 themeal Girl Child Day is celebrated on January 24, every year to commemorate the anniversary of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme on January 22, 2015. The Ministry of Women and Child Development launched this day in 2008. Since its launch, this particular day has been celebrated throughout the nation with an annual theme. The launch of this day recognizes evident challenges encountered by girls which include issues like gender inequality, educational barriers, school dropouts, healthcare challenges, child marriage, and gender-based violence. 

National Girl Child Day 2024 Significance

National Girl Child Day is extremely important as it is a day dedicated to initiating awareness of girls’ rights, equality, and empowerment in society. The goal of this day is to spread awareness among people and fight stigma and stereotypes against girls while promoting their right to health, education, and general well-being. The observance aims to promote a more inclusive and equitable environment by emphasizing the value of nurturing and supporting girl children. By doing this, it will pave the way for every girl child out there to realize, flourish, and nurture their dreams, and make meaningful contributions to their respective community and country as a whole. On the other hand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday applauded girls as change-makers and spoke about how the government is making every possible effort to build a nation where they have opportunities to learn, grow, and thrive. 

National Girl Child Day 2024 Theme

The government has yet to announce the theme for National Girl Child Day 2024. In 2019, the theme was “Empowering Girls for a Brighter Tomorrow.” “My Voice, Our Common Future” was the theme for 2020. Coming to 2021, the theme for National Girl Child Day was “Digital Generation, Our Generation.”

National Girl Child Day 2024: Quotes

• “Girls should never be afraid to be smart.” – Emma Watson
• “The empowered woman is powerful beyond measure and beautiful beyond description.” – Steve Maraboli
• “If one man can destroy everything, why can’t one girl change it?” – Malala Yousafzai
• “When girls are educated, their countries become stronger and more prosperous.” – Michelle Obama
• “Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world.” – Marilyn Monroe
• “A strong woman looks challenge in the eye and gives it a wink.” – Gina Carey 
• “Girls are capable of doing everything men are capable of doing. Sometimes they have more Imagination than men.” -Katherine Johnson

On the occasion of National Girl Child Day, here are some of the top government girl child schemes in India

UDAAN CBSE scholarship program: This scheme, launched by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, aims to address the underrepresentation of female students in prestigious engineering colleges and bridge the gap between school education and engineering entrance examinations. The requirements are that the students must be studying in Class XI of Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navodaya Vidyalayas, government schools of any recognized board, or CBSE-affiliated private schools in India. The selection is purely merit-based, requiring a minimum of 70% overall in Class X and 80% in Science and Mathematics. Coming to CGPA Boards, a minimum CGPA of 8 with a GPA of 9 in both Science and Mathematics.  

National Scheme of Incentives to Girls for Secondary Education: Launched in May 2008, NSIGSE aims to promote the secondary school education of girl students. For female students who cleared Class VIII and wish to continue their education, this scheme helps them out. It also ensures in reduction of the drop rate of female students from schools. The main of this scheme is girls belonging to SC/ST communities and prevent their retention until they are of age 18. A sum of 3,000 rupees is deposited in the name of eligible unmarried girls as a fixed deposit on enrolment of class IX who can then withdraw the amount with interest after completing 18 years and the class X examination. This scheme aims to reduce the dropout rate of female students promote advancement in the education of female students and ensure retention up to the age of 18 years.

Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY): Under this government scheme, the parents are given the opportunity to establish an account under the girl child from birth until the age of 10. Contributions to the Sukanya Yojana account mature either after 21 years, after its opening, or upon the girl’s marriage after she turns 18. The interest rate of this scheme is revised by the central government every quarter.

Balika Samridhi Yojana: This scholarship program offers financial support to girls hailing from families living below the poverty line. Under this scheme, the families are given INR 500 upon the birth of a daughter. Additionally, the child will receive scholarships that are needed for her education. 

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao: This scheme was introduced and launched in the year 2015 by the Prime Minister of India. On 22nd of January 2015, this initiative emerged in response to the decreasing sex ratio over the past few years due to gender-based abortions. The pivotal role of this scheme is to spread social awareness of gender-based discrimination, save girl children, and promote girl-child education in India. Under this scheme, you receive financial assistance for the healthcare and education of a girl child. This scheme came into existence because of the collaboration between state governments union territories and relevant central departments. 

AICTE Pragati Scholarship for Girls: AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) Pragati Scholarship for Girls is a scheme by the government brought into action by the All India Council for Technical Education. Under this scheme, you will be provided with financial assistance to meritorious female students coming from economically weaker sections of society to pursue technical education. The selected applicants will be given financial assistance of ₹50,000 per year for every year of study, that is, a maximum of 4 years for first-year admitted students and a maximum of 3 years for the students who got admitted into the universities through lateral enrollment. They will be given an incentive towards payment of the college fees, purchase of computers, stationeries, books, equipment, software, etc. Apart from this no additional amount is given for the payment of the hostel fees or medical charges. The requirements include the female student must be of Indian nationality and must be admitted as a full-time student in first-year diploma or degree programs in approved AICTE institutions. 

Begum Hazrat Mahal National Scholarship: This is yet another national-level scholarship launched for the benefit of female students belonging to minor communities. The Begum Hazrat Mahal National Scholarship started with the objective of financially supporting meritorious female students belonging to those communities. The scholarship provides financial assistance ranging from INR 10,000 to INR 12,000 to students selected from Classes 9 to 12. Financially backed by the government of India and initiated by Maulana Azad Education Foundation, almost 6 lakh female students have received the benefits of this scholarship till now. Begum Hazrat Mahal Scholarship is meant for only female students belonging to the six notified minority communities which include Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, and Parsi religions. The requirements to avail of this scholarship include that the applicant must be a female student pursuing her high school education, specifically studying in classes 9 to 12 and the applicants must have secured 50% marks or equivalent grades in the previous class. 

Post-Graduate Indira Gandhi Scholarship for Single Girl Child: Post-Graduate Indira Gandhi Scholarship for Single Girl Child is an initiative for female students up to 30 years of age who happen to be the only girl child in their family. The scholarship is funded and implemented by the University Grants Commission (UGC), Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD), Government of India. The scholarship’s main purpose is to promote girl’s education and provide financial aid for the direct costs of girl’s education at all levels. The selected candidates will receive INR 36,200 per annum for a period of two years. The requirements include that the female student be up to 30 years of age at the time of admission and she should be the only child of the family. The applicant must have been admitted to regular full-time first-year master’s degree courses in any designated university or a post-graduate college. 

CBSE Merit Scholarship Scheme: This merit scholarship is a popular name of the CBSE Merit Scholarship Scheme for Single Girl Children. Under this scholarship, financial aid will be provided to meritorious girls and the only girl child of the family of Class 10 to continue with their studies in Classes 11 and 12. The CBSE scholarship comes with a certain pre-defined set of eligibility conditions that the girl students need to fulfill to be eligible for this scheme. These conditions are primarily based on their current qualification, academic performance, and many more. However, the most important criterion is that the scholarship applies only to single girl children of a family. Furthermore, other criteria to be eligible for this scholarship are as follows: The amount of financial assistance that a student receives under the CBSE scholarship is INR 500 per month (INR 6,000 per annum) to continue her studies in Classes 11 and 12. The maximum duration of this scholarship is two years and the amount is paid to the students through NEFT or ECS. There is no fixed number of scholarships disbursed every year. However, considering the statistics of previous years, the total number of scholarships varies from 1400 to 1600.

Women Scientist Scheme-B (WOS-B): This scheme is initiated by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) under the aegis of the Ministry of Science and Technology for women scientists and technologists between the age of 27-57 years. The aim is to provide an opportunity for women who are having a break in their careers because of motherhood and family responsibilities and have a desire to return to the mainstream. The applicants must fulfill the following conditions of eligibility to avail this scheme: this is only for women candidates who are aged between 27-57 years of age. The women scientists must have a Ph.D. in Basic or Applied Sciences in Btech, M.Sc, MBBS, M.Tech, MD, MS, DM, and MCH in Medical Sciences from recognized universities. Age relaxation is given to the women belonging to the SC, St, OBC, and physically challenged categories. The benefits of applying to this scheme are that the scheme includes financial assistance for project and research and development support in five streams which include Physical and mathematical science, chemical science, life science, earth & Atmosphere science, and engineering services.