Red Salute to Meiningsiliu Pamei

By: Vinod Chandrashekhar Dixit
Recently, it is reported and that a 11-year-old girl Meiningsiliu Pamei from Tamenglong  Manipur takes care of her baby brother while attending offline classes.  How interesting it is that this girl is just 11 years old and she has the responsibility of raising her baby brother and the most important thing is that she doesn’t want to leave her studies either and so she goes to school with her brother in her arms. Pamei studies at Dailong Primary School in Tamenglong district of Manipur. Her dedication for education is what left all amazed. 
Manningsiliu is the eldest of four siblings. After the parents go to work, the responsibility of the house and younger siblings is on them. She cannot go away leaving her little brother on the basis of her younger siblings, so she takes him along. The girl wears a school uniform. Hangs the bag on the back and goes to school on foot with her brother in her lap.
Such dedicated children leave us speechless but proud of this nation who keeps giving us such strong children who are the reason of this nation’s might this little girl is a great example for current students, alumni and minors. Many have sincerely praised the Mining Cross that poverty or denial of opportunity will not always be an obstacle to education.
Instead of their parents going to work on the farm, with the responsibility of looking after her brother for a few months after birth, the motivation to study and the competition eventually won both. The Government is concerned with declining child sex ratio and so in 2015 it launched ”Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” Scheme, to create awareness on the need to protect the girl child and focus on their education.
Although twenty-first century India is developing at a fast pace, there is still a preference for a male child among scores of people. Education is the biggest power in the world and those who are serious about it can go to any extent to acquire knowledge. What a girl child needs is a good education. Education levels the playing field and enables her to compete fairly across gender. Education exposes a girl child to opportunities and helps develop her skills.  A girl child needs to be mentored and taught the proper values that will improve herself worth. Today, what we observe in rural areas is that a girl child go to school, help with housework, work in factories, make friends, care for elder and younger family members and prepare themselves to take on the responsibilities of adulthood. Girls play multiple roles in the household, society and the economy. In order to achieve true women empowerment, it is important that we begin with the girl children. This is because girls of today are the women of tomorrow. The role of social welfare organizations is critical here as it is not possible for the government to reach every nook and corner of the country. Just as we say that the youth of today are the citizens of tomorrow, so is the same with our girls. They are the women of tomorrow. If we want to empower them, we must reduce inequality and gender gaps, and create strong women leaders. What we need is to work to ensure that girl child gets every opportunity to realise her potential. By celebrating, protecting and educating the girl child, we can empower her.