SARTHI

Sarthi initiated the 'Beti Bachao, Desh Bachao' campaign in 2004 voicing strongly against female foeticide or sex-selective abortion of females in India. Sarthi initiated the 'Lohri Beti ke naam' or Lohri festival for daughters to celebrate the birth of a girl child, a festival otherwise celebrated in North India for sons. Sarthi volunteers could generally be seen wearing yellow aprons with the message 'Female Foeticide is a sin and a crime' in different local languages. Sarthi organised bicycle rallies, peaceful demonstrations, marches, made a documentary 'Beti' and visited villages spreading awareness about what the menace is, why it should be addressed and how. Sarthi believes in equal opportunities for girls and boys and is a believer of girl education and rights. Under this, Sarthi often protested against crime against girls, Sanjoli and Ananya wrote a letter to PM Modi with solutions and propelled the administration to launch women-only police stations for women to freely get their complaints lodged with women officers.