Simple messages helped people protect girls: Collector

Collector KS Kandasamy said that the focus was on communicating simple but effective messages. “We started taking measures early last year by celebrating the birth of girl children in the government hospitals and honouring the parents. 

The message was about the importance of protectinggirls,” he said. According to him, adopting creative strategies like making 1,34,000 girls from government, government-aided and private schools to convey their dreams to their parents have had their impact. “We also roped in anganwadi workers to make women take pledge on a lit camphor that they would ensure their daughters are not married off before turning 18 and educate her till college. 

We took up the concept of role reversal, made girls play and have fun, and specify the menu they wanted, while the boys went to the shop, made the food of the girls’ choice. When we spoke to the boys after the exercise, they had a better and a more positive view about the significance of women.”

Kandasamy highlighted the power of coordinated efforts by departments such as Health, Revenue, Child Care, Post, Railways and even Aavin, which printed messages on milk packets.