Guwahati: Miss Universe Olivia Frances Culpo on Saturday pledged her support to the movement for protection of rights of the girl child and underlined the need to understand the issues in the Indian context.
Culpo said the issue of child surrogacy has to be looked into Indian context and underlined the importance of maintaining right to privacy of donor as well as surrogate mother by involving a third party agency. The reigning beauty queen, on her maiden visit to India, appreciated INSTAR for bringing about positive response to surrogacy in India.
On the issue of girl child, Culpo said she wanted to bring the desired change by involving herself in the save the girl child campaign.
Dressed in traditional Assamese attire, the Miss Universe was speaking before flagging off a rally on Save the Girl Child here. The reigning beauty queen was accompanied by social activist and fashion designer Sanjana Jon.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, who was also present on the occasion, said concerted efforts are required towards protection of the girl child.
Gogoi said society must play a proactive role in saving the girl child and nursing them.
The Chief Minister expressed serious concern over the decline in sex ratio in the country.
‘Even educationally and economically advanced States like Punjab and Haryana have registered a decline in sex ratio and there is an urgent need to reverse the trend,’ he added.
Gogoi appreciated Miss Culpo for taking up the cause of the girl child and said, ‘She is a beautiful woman with a beautiful heart. And she wants to make the whole world beautiful.’
He thanked the reigning beauty queen for coming to the North Eastern part of the country.
The rally was organised by Indian Society for Third Party Assisted Reproduction (INSTAR), NF Railway Women’s Welfare Organisation (NFRWWO) and Frontier TV on CME on surrogacy in India and Value the Girl Child Campaign.
The function was attended, among others, by Manoranjana Singh, Managing Director, Frontier TV. (UNI)
