Nanhi Chaan is a movement that aims to save the girl child, empower women, and conserve the environment by challenging the deep-rooted social evil of female foeticide. The organization also strives to save Mother Nature, recognizing that just as the environment is a source of life in this universe, a woman’s womb is also the beginning of new life. As Guru Nanak Ji said, "From her, kings are born. From woman, woman is born; without woman, there would be no one at all." The movement also tackles the notion of a girl being a burden to the family. It empowers women financially through vocational training, contributing to improving the skewed sex ratio of Punjab.
While touring the villages of Punjab, she realized that female foeticide is a prevalent practice in Punjab. A state which is called the granary of the India, a state which was the land of Green revolution in India, a state which proudly stands apart from all other in ensuring food security for 144 crore Indians; it was heart-wrenching to witness that a girl, who is the source of all other lives, her life is not safe and secure. The sex ratio of Punjab was amongst the lowest in the country. The ritual of ‘Kuddhi maar’ was spread like a wildfire. This led Harsimrat Kaur Badal to start an organization to curb female foeticide along with saving the environment, the two sources of life on this Universe.
Curbing Female foeticide required a revolution at the level of the mindset of the people, a mindset that was erroneously shaped and nurtured generation after generation. Discrimination against girls is prevalent in outdated customs, from dowry traditions to limited property rights, causing them to be perceived as burdens throughout their lives, even tragically in the womb's shadows. The change in this mindset, was a major challenge in her journey, without a change of which there will be no commensurate improvement in the sex ratio of Punjab. But step by step, brick by brick , Harsimrat Kaur Badal was able to accomplish feats in this arduous journey.
Along the way, she realized that the mindset of a girl being a burden on the family cannot be eradicated only through generating awareness. It needed indirect interventions in the form of making women financially independent, thus no longer under the patronage of her family or her husband. Thus, she started Silai Centres (stitching schools) to provide vocational training to women in stitching. From starting with a small classroom on a kutccha floor in one of the villages in Punjab, Nanhi Chaan spread to open 92 centers across the state, gradually adorning itself with acceptance and accolades from various sections of society. SHGs were opened to help women accumulate their savings and start small enterprises.