When Sanjoli Banerjee from Karnal was just five years old, she witnessed her pregnant mother being pressured by relatives to get an abortion.
This came on the heels of a sex determination result in 2004 (performed illegally and forcefully) which indicated that another baby girl was on the way.
However, her parents decided not to succumb to the pressure and her mother carried the baby to term.
At a tender age, Sanjoli was a silent witness to all of this. She watched, observed and the seeds for activism were sown within.
The 25-year-old and her younger sister Ananya decided to dedicate their lives to this cause.
“Getting to know how I was not accepted, welcomed, or celebrated by society because of my gender was extremely uncomfortable,” says Ananya.
“Every time I think of it, I am bothered and the pain gives me more strength to actively build a world where girls are accepted, educated and empowered,” she shares.
Sanjoli and Ananya create awareness about issues such as female foeticide and girl child education through their father, Mihir Banerjee’s NGO Sarthi, which he started in 1992.
While it began with the intent of carrying out charity activities during his masters in social work, today, over 600 youth volunteers are a part of it.
Sanjoli was also the recipient of The Diana Award in 2021 for Social Action and Humanitarian Work.
In addition to issues surrounding women, the girls also focus on the environment and climate change.
In 2009, they travelled across seven states of India, covering a distance of 4,800 km, as part of their mission ‘Save Daughters, Save Earth’.
During this period, they screened their documentary film ‘Earth in Flames’, conducted seminars in schools and colleges, and distributed pamphlets to highlight the message of saving the planet.
The duo has always ensured their voice for change reaches the highest platforms, and in 2015, they penned a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, highlighting suggestions for curbing female foeticide.The duo received recognition for the same from the PMO.
In 2019, they started a mobile school named Sushiksha for the kids in Darar village in Karnal. The school has extended its reach to four locations across Karnal, Delhi, Chandigarh and Jaipur.
The zero-expense weekend school has a curriculum focused on holistic education and has trained over 300 kids, Sanjoli says.
“We want to create a world where women do not have to fight for their rights, neither before nor after their births,” says Sanjoli.