International Women's Day: New fundraising app for girls' education

On International Women's Day, Plan India, an NGO that works towards the upliftment of under-privileged children, will launch a web-based application to raise funds for the education of girls in the country, an official said here Thursday.

The app based on the micro site is being supported by women achievers like Indra Nooyi, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Anu Aga, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Kirthiga Reddy and Shobhaa De.

To be launched under the aegis of "Because I am a Girl" campaign, the application projects a happy child, in mosaic, made of blocks.

Each block is worth a donation of Rs.500 and when a donor makes a contribution, his or her picture gets embedded in that block, providing the instant satisfaction of 'standing behind the girl child'.

"There is no greater wish a woman can have on Women's Day than to have her own identity, economic self reliance and live a life of dignity. Only education makes that possible," said Bhagyashri Dengle, executive director, Plan India.

"It is our collective responsibility to ensure that our girls go to school, graduate from college, join the workforce and change the world," said Kiran Mazumdar Shaw.

Plan India's primary objective under this campaign is to enable girls to enrol and complete quality primary and secondary education in a safe and supportive community environment.

Through the fundraiser, Plan India aims to raise at least Rs.12 million to educate 2,000 girls in our country for one year.

Plan India's 'Because I am a Girl' campaign aims to ensure over 3,40,000 girls remain in school and access quality education, 1,00,000 girls complete secondary school through various school improvement programs and 50,000 girls receive vocational training by the year 2015.