‘Operation Lado’ Launched to Improve Sex Ratio in Haryana
Haryana May 16, 2025
In a historic move to combat female foeticide, India’s first-ever online Lado Panchayat was convened by the Selfie With Daughter Foundation in collaboration with the Women & Child Development Department and Health Department of Haryana. The virtual gathering witnessed participation from thousands, including key grassroots stakeholders such as Team Lado , ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers, ANMs, sarpanches, women and girls from various panchayats, and senior government officials.
Presided over by Twinkle Pawar, Chair of Lado Panchayat, the session reflected on the powerful legacy of the Lado Panchayat. It had previously made headlines for advocating to raise the legal marriage age for girls from 18 to 21, which led to an invitation to the Rajya Sabha in 2021. Other groundbreaking campaigns have included demands for period leave, banning misogynistic slurs, and pushing for the establishment of girls’ universities in Nuh and Sohna districts.
Significantly, this was the first Lado Panchayat where men were allowed to participate, marking a critical step toward inclusive gender dialogue.
‘Operation Lado’ Unveiled
Sunil Jaglan, Founder of Lado Panchayat and CEO of Selfie With Daughter Foundation, passionately emphasized that “female foeticide is not just a crime—it is a premeditated murder.” He introduced ‘Operation Lado’, a multi-pronged strategy aimed at tackling this social evil through emotional engagement and behavioral change, rooted in the ‘Ehsaas Ka Software’ initiative based on the Bibipur Model of women empowerment.
Key elements of Operation Lado include Preventing misuse of MTP kits , Raising awareness through the circulation of videos detailing the procedure and impact of female foeticide , Legal education via community loudspeakers , Use of Haryana’s control room number 112 for reporting incidents of female foeticide.
‘Girls from Team Lado, including Sonia, Nisha, Surbhi, Supriya, and others, shared how they have implemented the Ehsaas Ka Software model across Haryana through campaigns like Period Charts, Gaali Bandh Ghar, and Daughter’s Nameplate.
Among the many heartfelt testimonies shared, Rajni Malik, a supervisor with the Department of Women & Child Development in Palwal, moved participants with her personal story. After the loss of her husband and abandonment by her family, she was pressured to abort her unborn daughter. Defying all odds, she chose to give birth and now actively supports other women—especially widows—by facilitating pension schemes and extending assistance wherever possible.
The Lado Panchayat concluded with a powerful show of unity. All participating women and girls raised their hands in agreement via online video to endorse the demand to constitutionally declare female foeticide as murder. They pledged collective support for Operation Lado and vowed to continue their activism on this front.
The next session of the online Lado Panchayat is scheduled for June 1, 2025, where this resolution will be formally taken to the Government of India. The Lado Panchayat has called upon policymakers to recognise female foeticide not just as a social evil but as a constitutional crime equivalent to murder.
Sunil Jaglan has launched over 100 social campaigns for women’s empowerment and rural development, which have been appreciated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in “Mann Ki Baat” and acknowledged by the President of India. Notably, in 2012, he organized the country’s first khap panchayat to improve the sex ratio, which was also the first women-oriented panchayat in India’s history where women were took part and speak about female foeticide. This pioneering effort marked the beginning of the “Beti Bachao” campaign to prevent female foeticide. His efforts transformed his village into a role model for the entire country, showcasing significant improvement in the sex ratio, previously one of the lowest in Haryana.
