Students, youngsters and elderly people in large numbers participated in the ‘5K’ run to spread the message ‘save the girl child’ on the Beach Road here on Sunday.
The run started off from Kali Mata Temple to VUDA Park and then reached the temple. Students from various colleges like Welfare Engineering College, GITAM College, Visakha Technical Campus, Adithya Degree College, AU College of Engineering apart from some junior colleges, CPA and CA institutions took part.
After flagging off the run, Minister for Tribal Welfare P. Balaraju said that it was sad to note that people still continue to regret the birth of a girl child in many families. “Everyone should come forward to help reduce the gender discrimination existing in our society and work towards the welfare and development of every girl child,” he said. The event saw Visakhapatnam West MLA Malla Vijay Prasad, Registrar of Andhra University V. Uma Maheswara Rao, Chokkakula Charitable Trust president C. Venkata Rao, director of Centre for Professional Education Jagdish Kumar, convenor of Dr.Durgabai Deshmukh Centre for Women’s Studies K.R. Rajini along with the fifth Indian idol Sreerama Chandra and film actress Barbie Handa, among others.
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According to the survey conducted by WHO and UNESCO, there is a striking variation of human sex ratio. The gender discrimination is on the rise across the country. One in every five girls remains uneducated due to lack of financial support. “To spread the message across the city and to create awareness among people, we have been organising such events for the last three years. Our objective is to save the girl child and help reduce gender bias,” said founder of Vay Foundation Ganta Swami.
Winners
S. Ashok Kumar and S. Ganesh bagged first and second prizes, Krishna Kumari received consolation prize while Raja Babu received prize as one of the active participants among senior citizens in the 5K run.
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