Make policies prohibiting expoitation of girl child: Somnath

New Delhi, May 23 (UNI) Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee today urged parliamentarians to influence the government to formulate policies that prohibit children's exploitation, especially the girl child.

''The members of Parliament, as representatives of the people, can play the role of opinion makers in their respective constituencies in shaping the thinking and attitude of the people towards the girl child,'' he said, inaugurating the Seventh Lecture on ''Issues pertaining to the Rights of Girl Child''.

He said the issue that confronted the children or problems that inhibited their growth, particularly of the girl child, had to be addressed urgently and holistically.

''Since India has one-fifth of the world's children and children of the age group of 0-14 years constitute 34 per cent of the total population in India, there need to be focussed attention on the subject,'' he said.

He also stressd the need for ensuring the right to be born as a girl child and the right to live with dignity.

Ms Razia Sultan Ismail Abbasi, co-convenor of India Alliance for Child Rights, who delivered the lecture, said the male-female ratio had witnessed the latest decline among the children of younger age groups in India.

''There exist less female children for male children than women for men in India,'' she added.

UNI YJ MSJ HT1905