Girls made India proud at Rio Olympics: Modi

Sanosara (Guj), Aug 30 (PTI) Showering praise on Olympicmedallists PV Sindhu and Sakshi Malik, Prime Minister NarendraModi today said these "daughters" were the saving grace ofIndia at the Rio Games. Speaking at the inaugural function of Sauni irrigationproject here today, Modi touched upon several social issuesplaguing the country including gender-based discrimination. "We have to make sure that our sisters and daughtersdon’t have to go in open for defecation. You must havewitnessed how our daughters saved India’s face in Rio Olympicsand brought honour to us (by winning medals). This is the truepower of our daughters," said Modi to a cheering crowd at thevenue here in Jamnagar district of Gujarat. Shuttler Sindhu bagged a silver in the women’s singleswhile Sakshi won India’s first ever medal (bronze) in women’swrestling at Rio. Modi stated that Gujarat government has been working onthe "Beti Bachao" (save girl child) movement since long. He urged parents as well as the society not todiscriminate between boys and girls. "I urge people not to repeat their old mistakes. We mustunderstand that our girls are as capable as boys, which wasproved in Rio Olympics. Do not discriminate between them,"said Modi. The PM urged people to take forward the movement ofBeti Bachao-Beti Padhao (Save Girls-Educate Girls) to the nextlevel, that is Beti Khilao (Let girls play). "After girls’ performance in Rio, people have startedsaying that Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao and Beti Khilao. So letsencourage our daughters to take up sport activities," saidModi. PTI KA PJT PD DKKUN