India’s known for its chaotic traffic, stunning forts, street food, and the burgeoning cultural scene. But there’s something that’s less spoken about– the endemic gender issue.

A Reuters survey ranked India the 4th most dangerous country for women. We rank 130 among 180 countries on Gender Inequality Index. A worldwide poll of 370 gender specialists voted India as the worst place to be a woman amongst G20 countries.

Our constitution recognizes equal rights for women, yet the girl child has a lesser chance to be born than a boy.

We have 943 girls to 1000 boys. An estimated 6 mn girls were aborted in the last decade by parents determined to have a son. If they do win the macabre obstacle race to birth, the girl child is less likely to be fed, educated, or have a right over property. She’s more likely to be married off early, be killed for dowry, have acid thrown on her face, die during childbirth, or have anemia.

The PM appealed to “stop discriminating between girls and boys”. With the odds heavily stacked against the girl child, our campaign set afoot on the long road to creating an equal world for ‘half of humanity’.

Despite the odds against the girl child, there are some green shoots. More women are now elected as village heads; government schemes increasingly being disbursed through women, a sharp jump in school enrollment for girls, and there are more women in workspaces.

Simultaneously, we were witnessing a constant tension, between old patriarchy and new women empowerment narrative, between the men who exploit women and those who march with them as equals. The shackles around the girl child were being broken. Their opinions had to go beyond the soliloquies in the pages of their diaries. These voices had to be amplified…these diaries had to go public.

Through Daughters’ Diary, we invited 957 girls to express their view on status of women in contemporary India. In a significant leap of faith we handed over the editorial reins of the newspaper to 72 girls on 11th Oct – International Day of Girl Child.

One month before 11th Oct, we invited 957 girls to write a first person account of the world from their view. These 957 stories, laid bare the gaping holes in our patriarchal society. There were stories of anguish, of silent cries, of unnoticed sacrifices, of arbitrary rules, of daily humiliation. But there were stories of hope, of ambition, of aspirations, of the supreme power of the human spirit, of optimism and the will to change the world.

These 957 stories reached out to 52.5 mn readers

On 11th Oct, we invited 72 girls across 21 different cities to be Dainik Jagran’s Guest Editors. They trained in our newsrooms and created their version of the newspaper. On 11th October, 52.5mn Readers woke up to a newspaper which spoke about an issue often dusted under the carpet. It was a newspaper that stirred the collective conscience of millions of Indians.

Demonstrating Intent: By creating a platform for girls to voice their opinion, we demonstrated intent. When 957 girls come together to tell their stories, the country sits up and listens.

Mainstreaming the Gender Issue: For SDG to achieve women’s economic empowerment by 2030, the agenda had to move out of the “gender ghetto” and go mainstream. Dainik Jagran, India’s largest read newspaper, enabled this mainstreaming.

Subject as Spokesperson: It was a uniquely fulfilling experiment where the “subject” became the “spokesperson”. It brought to light the truth that India chooses to ignore – that economic growth does not automatically mean gender justice.

Impact on Brand : Not only was Dainik Jagran the 1st newspaper in India to cross the 70 mn* Readership mark, we also had the Highest Brand Awareness, Brand Likeability and Brand Health Scores.**

*Source : IRS 2017, ** Brand Study, Dec 2017?

Being a woman in India is straddling two imprisonments: either she is deified as a goddess or treated as a lesser human. Both extremes are a form of enslavement. In between, there’s a whole spectrum of staggering disempowerments led by a centuries-old patriarchal system. In a society where economics and hunger drive decisions, the girl child was a dispensable commodity.

In times where rhetoric prevailed over genuine intent, where gender wasn’t anybody’s priority, where economic growth only strengthened prejudices against the girl child, it was time we stirred the conscience of Indians. What if we gave the girl child a vehicle to express herself and talk to India directly? We saw an opportune moment on 11th Oct, International Day of the Girl Child. It draws attention towards investing in realizing the power of adolescent girls, and upholding their rights today which promises a more equitable and prosperous future.

Dainik Jagran exists to shift the collective consciousness of people and transform lives to create a better world and a better future….because an awakened individual is one who goes beyond the barriers of his own mind and lives life in a larger context.

Living this vision of our brand, we draw from the very core of our newspaper’s editorial philosophy which has 7 Principles as its foundation – Women Empowerment, Environment Protection, Population Management, Poverty Eradication, Health, Education, and Water Conservation. These are intrinsically linked to our country’s progress. Everyday, we necessarily carry stories of change, of challenges, of hope and of crusaders across any of these domains.

Gender issues, therefore are a core priority of the brand.

As per SDG, ending all forms of discrimination against women and girls is not only a basic human right, but it also crucial to accelerating sustainable development. Empowering women has a multiplier effect on economic growth and development. Our campaign drew from the SDG on gender equality, with specific objectives to:

- Lend a 1st person voice on the gender issue

- Demonstrate a view of the world from a girl’s perspective