Overview

• India’s Press Information Bureau and leaders including Nitin Gadkari and Mallikarjun Kharge marked the day with commitments to education, safety and opportunity for girls.
• Experts and activists in Odisha and beyond urged comprehensive sex education, safe school environments, and early awareness on rights and protection to prevent exploitation and dropouts.
• The April 2025 investment case by the Union Health Ministry and PMNCH calls for about ₹4,000 crore annually and expansion of adolescent health services such as RKSK to scale nutrition, menstrual health and mental-health support.
• Official data show progress with female literacy at 70.3%, secondary enrolment at 78% and child marriage down to 23%, yet gaps persist with high anaemia, limited mental-health resources and rural dropout pockets.
• Civil-society programs like Educate Girls and Project Nanhi Kali report enrolling and supporting out-of-school girls, as UNICEF and partners warn that Taliban bans have already excluded about 2.2 million Afghan girls from secondary school, potentially nearing four million by 2030.