While PM Narendra Modi Has Nation’s attention for receiving “Global Goalkeeper Award” by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, this 17-yr-old girl from Rajasthan has also received Gates Foundation Award at an event in New York on 24 September, Wednesday.
In case you missed this news, you can read here about Payal Jangid, a brave girl from Rajasthan’s Hinsla village who is on a mission to wipe out the oppressing rituals and traditions against women in particular such as child marriages and “ghunghat pratha” – a tradition that makes it mandatory for women to cover their faces with veil.
According to a report by a media outlet, Jangid served as the head of the Bal Panchayat (Children’s Council) in her village as part of the ‘Bal Mitra Gram’ (Child-Friendly Village) program, that falls under Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), an initiative by Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi.
After receiving the award and while talking to ANI, she said, “I’m extremely happy, PM also got this award. The way I’ve eradicated these problems in our village, want to do the same globally.”
Payal also thanked her mentors, Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi and child rights activist Sumedha Kailash.
“This girl was brave enough to refuse her own marriage when she was young, protested against the marriages of other children in the village and in the neighboring villages. She wants to fight courageously against the exploitation of children in India and across the globe. She made us extremely proud,” said Sathyarthi.
Payal Jangid received the Changemaker Award at tonight’s Goalkeepers Global Goals Awards. This award recognizes her campaign to end child labor and child marriage. pic.twitter.com/OV3U16ERmF
— Gates Foundation (@gatesfoundation) September 25, 2019
Take a bow, Payal!