On Sunday 1stDecember, NDTV, along with Vedanta and campaign ambassador Priyanka Chopra came together for a live Telethon to raise awareness and support for India’s girl child under ‘OUR GIRLS OUR PRIDE – A Khushi Initiative’.

The day was dedicated to honouring and encouraging India’s girls to find their voice, become independent, follow their dreams and make a place for themselves in society. The day-long TELETHON was televised LIVE across the NDTV Network channels: NDTV 24×7, NDTV India, NDTV Profit and NDTV Goodtimes.

This campaign has received an overwhelming response from people across different walks of life from its inception. Sunday’s Telethon successfully generated funds to support an annual education of over two thousand girls, with the Indian Film & TV fraternity, Corporate Houses, Athletes, NGO’s and others contributing wholeheartedly to this cause. The funds raised will be given to the NGO Pratham, our implementation partner, known for their incredible work in the field of providing quality education to the underprivileged children of India.

Hosted by Vikram Chandra and Campaign Ambassador Priyanka Chopra, the telethon featured some heart wrenching examples of the plight of Indian girls, many inspiring stories of women and girls who have beaten the odds, engaging and thought stimulating discussions with various experts and stakeholders, entertaining acts, live on-air donations and more.

A host of prominent personalities including Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Karan Johar, Kajol, Aruna Jayanthi, CEO, Capgemini India, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairman & Managing Director of Biocon Limited, Vinita Bali, CEO, Britannia, Anu Aga, MP, RajyaSabha& Former Chairperson, Thermax, Suhel Seth, Karisma Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Shaan, SaniaMirza, Shahnaz Husain, Alia Bhat, Varun Dhawan, Ayushman Khurrana, Kunal Kohli, Vandana Luthra and more, joined NDTV Group CEO Vikram Chandra and Priyanka Chopra, who took centre-stage to appeal to millions of viewers to generate maximum funds for this worthy cause. Later Mr. Anil Agarwal, Chairman of Vedanta Group too joined and encouraged his own employees to come forward and adopt girl child and secure their future. His company has been looking after 200,000 underprivileged girls with focus towards their health, education and nutrition.

Hundreds of people came forth to make their contribution, including special contributions from Scholastic India who contributed one lakh books and Max Life contributing 5 lakhs for the treatment and camps for the girl child. Campaign Ambassador Priyanka Chopra added to this by making a personal contribution and taking on the cost of the educating 100 girls for the year.

Speaking on the day’s success, campaign ambassador, Priyanka Chopra said, “It was an emotionally draining day… but so worth the effort! On one hand, there were moments of utter despair as we saw heart-breaking stories unfold about the plight of the girl child in India today and on the other hand there were also the positive stories… the reality of women and girls, fighting back, against all odds, to overcome their circumstances and to emerge triumphant.

There has been overwhelming outpouring of support for this cause and I am deeply touched. As we stand here today… we know that over 2000 girls WILL be educated. It’s a first step we’ve taken and I believe that together these baby steps can turn into a movement that will help change the lives of millions of girls across the country…. for the better! I would like to thank my friends from the film industry for their generous contributions and also for sparing their time to create awareness for this worthy cause. We have much more planned… this is only the beginning!”

Commenting on the campaign, Mr. Anil Agarwal, Chairman, Vedanta Group said, “We are pleased to be associated with ‘Our Girls Our Pride – A Khushi Initiative’, which focuses on care for the girl child and related issues. Vedanta has been associated with child care projects since 2008 and this association with NDTV has further strengthened our mission to make India free from malnutrition, with specific attention to education and health issues of the girl child. “

Thanking everyone for their generous donations, Dr. Prannoy Roy, Co-Chairperson NDTV had a special thank you for Priyanka Chopra, for sparing so much time to appeal for and support this cause. He added, “the problem is men; women are the solution”

The event also featured several enthralling performances by singing sensation Shaan, Karisma Kapoor, SwanandKirkire, Shilpa Rao and Mouni Roy.

With the funds generated through the ‘Our Girls Our Pride – A Khushi Initiative’ Telethon, NDTV and Vedanta along with Pratham will reach out to transform the lives of over 2000 girls across the country to give them a better tomorrow.

Vedanta’s ‘Khushi’ campaign has been spreading message on care for the deprived and underprivileged children and has been effectively encouraging society at large to build a life of dignity for these children.

Press Release