Port Blair, Dec. 22: Shri Keshav Chandra, IAS, Chief Secretary, A & N Administration inaugurated the ‘Beti Badhai Sandesh’, an initiative of District Administration through District Health Society, SA for new born baby girls during a function held at G.B. Pant Hospital today. The Chief Secretary provided baby kits, awareness pamphlets and plant pots to 16 mothers of the new born baby girls in the presence of Dr. Satyendra Singh Dursawat, IAS, Secretary (Health), Ms. Veditha Reddy, IAS, Deputy Commissioner (SA), Shri Dilkhush Meena, IAS, ADM (SA), Shri Vinayak Chamadia, SDM (SA), Shri Anand Vardhan Mishra, AC(S), Dr. Suja Antony, Director (Health) and other officials of DHS, ANIIMS & National Health Mission.

The Chief Secretary appreciated the initiative and congratulated mothers of new born babies and requested them to ensure their good health and to provide quality education to them.

The DC (SA)/Chairperson, District Health Society, South Andaman speaking to the media stated that the ‘Beti Badhai Sandesh’ initiative has been taken up by the District Health Society, South Andaman under National Health Mission with the aim to create a positive and joyous atmosphere around the arrival of every girl child. This initiative is to reaffirm the belief that each girl is a source of strength, resilience and has limitless potential to provide support to the family and in serving the Nation as a whole. Further, she added that it's not just an initiative, it's a movement towards a more inclusive and equal society. By celebrating the birth of every girl child, we are sowing the seeds for a future, where gender does not limit one's potential. The DC (SA) appealed to the public that such celebration may also be organized at the community level, so that the parents of girl child may get encouraged to provide equal opportunity to their daughter in every respect.