Discriminatory mentality towards girl child should change: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said protecting girl child is everyone's "social, national and human responsibility", and urged women sarpanchs to play an important role in preventing female foeticides.
The Prime Minister also said discriminatory mentality towards a girl child needs to change.
He was addressing a national convention of women sarpanchs on the occasion of International Woman's Day here.
"A lot needs to be done in the country towards 'beti bachao, beti padhao' (save and educate girl child). At least in the villages where the sarpanch is a woman, we should have no cases of female foeticide. If a sarpanch decides to create awareness, she can achieve that," he said.

"Against every 1,000 men, there are 800, 850, 900 women (in different states). If such an imbalance is created in society, how will it progress? It is society's responsibility, and women sarpanch can possibly be more successful in changing the social mindset," he said at Swachh Shakti 2017 programme held at Mahatma Mandir here.
"Women sarpanch can probably be more successful in protecting girl child and foetus. Women have proven their capability. They have turned divine whatever opportunity they have got. Therefore, 'beti bachao' is our social, national, human responsibility," he said.

Modi said the discriminatory mentality towards daughters should change, as it impedes society's progress.

"The discriminatory mentality has to be fought and changed with determination. Change is happening. Our daughters won Olympic gold medals and made us proud. In Board exams, only girls are seen on top of the list," he said.
He further exhorted around 6,000 women sarpanchs from across the country, who attended the convention, to ensure that girls in their respective villages are sent to school.
Lauding women's contribution towards Swachh Bharat
Mission, Modi called for creating a rural India which is technologically enabled.
He also took a jibe at Opposition members for raising questions in Parliament on the possibility of making rural India technologically advanced.

"Let's build a village of tomorrow, where even urban residents feel like building a small house and spending a day or two a week. It is possible that a village is build in such a way that people would think of spending a vacation there," he said.
"Everything can be done in a village. Government's Rurban Mission is about providing urban facilities in rural set-up. Through optical fibre network, work is on to connect every Panchayat of the country. There are 2.5 lakh panchayats, of which around 70,000 panchayats have been connected, and will be expanded as per requirements of villages," he said.

"In Parliament, we sometimes hear how technology would arrive, there is no technology in villages. I am not sure why people say this," he said.
Modi also said he had seen women from a tribal village in Gujarat taking pictures on their mobile phones a decade ago.
On the occasion, the PM presented awards to women sarpanchs from different states for achieving cleanliness goals and making their villages open defecation free.