Our Bureau

Hyderabad , Sept. 10

PLAN India and Population Foundation of India have launched an advocacy programme to sensitise lawmakers and corporates on the need for universal birth registration.

"This is very important to help check discrimination against girl child," Ms Nalini Abraham, Country Health Advisor (Plan India), said.

Universal birth registration was directly linked to problems like trafficking and child labour, she said.

The month-long advocacy programme was aimed at educating various groups that, in turn, would bring awareness on the need for birth registrations. The two NGOs were demanding that pre-birth sex selection should be stopped. They also demanded that elimination of female child should be stopped.

As part of the campaign, a State-level advocacy workshop was organised on Thursday in association with the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FAPCCI). Representatives of various corporate and trade houses were present at the workshop.

"This is our first interaction with the chambers. We will look forward for more such meetings," she said. The advocacy campaign would also cover MLAs. The idea was to make them raise their voice on the importance of birth registrations which would ultimately protect the interests of the girl child.

Mr A.R. Nanda, Executive Director of PFI, found fault with the target-oriented and camp-based approach to family planning. This approach, according to him, created a lot of imbalances like gender imbalances.

He felt that viewing population as a liability was not right. "In fact, population should be considered as an asset," he observed.

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