About 300 girls from the Sphoorthi programme in Belagavi, Koppal and Yadgir received the opportunity to meet Smt. Lakshmi Hebbalkar, the Minister of Women and Child Development, Government of Karnataka, on March 5 in Belagavi. During the interaction, the Smt. Hebbalkar encouraged the girls to stand up against gender discrimination and to work towards their life goals. On March 7, 34 girls from Sphoorthi in Kalaburagi participated in an event organized by the Government of Karnataka and discussed menstrual health and hygiene using the Life Skills Education flipchart with Ms Pushpalatha BS, Director, Health and Family Welfare Services, Government of Karnataka, and other senior government officials.