Attempt to collect record signs on flag to raise cause of girl child

Allahabad: An attempt is being made at Kumbh Mela by UNICEF and the Global Interfaith Wash Alliance (GIVA), an organisation working under Parmarth Niketan, to break a Guinness record for the highest number of signatures on a flag in a show of solidarity to the girl child. Niketan sources said the two organisations have joined hands for attempting to break the record of 1,15,405 signatures on a flag, signed by people from all the states of the US. At Kumbh, authorities have already collected more than 70,000 signatures. The flag, when unfurled, will be nearly the size of a football field, providing ample room for the lakhs of signatures that the campaign is expecting to attract.
“On tour across the Kumbha Mela, the signature campaign has been designed as an important tool to educate and inspire the masses to say, ‘Yes’ to education; no to child marriage,” said Sadhvi Bhagwati Saraswati of Parmarth Niketan.

“The signature campaign intends to open important dialogues regarding the issue as it travels through the Kumbh Mela, and then across Uttar Pradesh, to collect signatures and sow the seeds of change,” she said. Over 70,000 signatures have so far been collected. This includes signatures of Union minister Nitin Gadkari, Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, Madhya Pradesh governor Anandi Ben Patel, film actor Sanjay Mishra, actress Lubna Salim, filmmakers Madhur Bhandarkar, Subash Ghai and Abhinav Kashyuap among many others.