Fifty per cent of country's strength should be women: Bachchan

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan today said 50 per cent of the strength of the nation should be women and they need to be honoured and given dignity.
"We as nation are very proud of the women we have in our country. We have a cultural backlog and we are fast changing. I think 50 per cent of the strength of the nation should be women and they need their dignity and honour in our country. And that is what we need to work for," Bachchan told reporters at the press conference of Global Citizen here.
Global Citizen, a social action platform, and The Global Education and Leadership Foundation (tGELF), today launched the Global Citizen India platform. The platform will comprise a distinctive mix of events, grassroots activism, media campaigning and online activation, to catalyse India's journey towards achieving the global goals for sustainable development, and to bring about the end of poverty.

In its first year, Global Citizen India will offer a wide cross-section of content and actions focused on creating meaningful impact in three key areas: Quality Education, Gender Equality, and Clean Water and Sanitation.
According to the "Piku" star, personal involvement is needed for working towards the causes in our society.
"When it comes to execution, I think each individual needs to do their best (for working towards social causes). I don't feel shy to say that I am a survivor of tuberculosis and I gave my example to others (to motivate). I urge everyone we all need to work individually," he said.

Big B says he feels honoured to be supporting social causes. "There have been many aspects of global citizenship that have been discussed, it has a beautiful concept, some of it are quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation," he said.

The 73-year-old megastar has also been associated with
health related causes.
"We have talked about health issues...The Chief Minister and I are working towards eradicating tuberculosis. I am a survivor of tuberculosis. I also worked towards polio as an ambassador of the United Nations for eight years. After the struggle of eight years, we were able to make India polio-free," he added.

The inaugural Global Citizen Festival India, to be held in Mumbai on 19 November, will be Global Citizen India's first initiative and will be headlined by Coldplay, Jay Z, Aamir Khan, Ranveer Singh, Katrina Kaif, AR Rahman, Farhan Akhtar, Shraddha Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, Arijit Singh, Dia Mirza, the Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy trio and Monali Thakur.
Starting today, free tickets to the festival can be earned through the new online platform by signing up to become a Global Citizen and completing the festival's Action Journey.
In a lighter vein, Bachchan even asked the team to let him know what to he should do to be able to win those social currency points so that he can win free tickets.

The Global Citizen Festival is a platform created by Global Citizen, which leverages the voices of Global Citizens to influence world leaders and decision makers to enact policy changes and commit significant resources to help solve some of the world's biggest challenges.
The Government of Maharashtra is the host partner for the inaugural Global Citizen Festival India, and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has extended his support to the initiative.
The CM was joined by actors and personalities including Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Farhan Akhtar, Kareena Kapoor.
Coldplay's Chris Martin also shared his enthusiasm about the festival via a video message.