BETI BACHAO BETI PADHAO YOJNA

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojna

(Save "girl" child, Educate a "girl" child)

Introduction:

Beti Bachao Beti Bachao Yojna is a social campaign of the Government of India that aims to generate awareness and improve the efficiency of welfare services intended for girls. The scheme was launched with an initial funding of Rs.100 crore (US$16 million).  It aims to address the issue of the declining child sex ratio image (CSR) and is a national initiative jointly run by theMinistry of Women & Child Development, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and the Ministry of Human Resource development. It initially focused multi-sector action in 100 districts throughout the country where there was a low CSR.

About:

According to census data, the child sex ratio/CSR (0–6 years) in India was 927 girls per 1,000 boys in 2001, which dropped to 918 girls for every 1,000 boys in 2011. A 2012 UNICEF report ranked India 41st among 195 countries. The decline in CSR was unabated since 1961. This is an alarming rate for "Women Disempowerment". It reflects both pre-birth discrimination manifested through gender biased selection, and post birth discrimination against girls. The decline is widespread across the country and has expanded to rural as well as tribal areas.

Alarmed by the sharp decline, the Government of India has introduced Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao(BBBP) programme to address the issue of decline in CSR in 100 gender critical districts. Coordinated & convergent efforts are needed to ensure survival, protection and education of the girl child.

The Overall Goal of the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao(BBBP) Scheme is to Celebrate the Girl Child & Enable her Education. The objectives of the Scheme are as under:

• ·        Prevent gender biased sex selective elimination.

• ·        Ensure survival & protection of the girl child.

• ·        Ensure education of the girl child.

•      Women empowerment on a greater scale.

Need:

Sex-selective abortion or female foeticide has led to a sharp drop in the ratio of girls born in contrast to boy infants in some states in India. Ultrasound technology has made it possible for pregnant women and their families to learn the gender of a foetus early in a pregnancy. Discrimination against girl infants, for several reasons, has combined with the technology to result in a rise in abortions of foetuses identified as female during ultrasonic testing.
The trend was first noticed when results of the 1991 national census were released, and it was confirmed to be a worsening problem when results of the 2001 national census were released. The reduction in the female population of certain Indian states continues to worsen, as results of the 2011 national census have shown. It has been observed that the trend is most pronounced in relatively prosperous regions of India. The dowry system in India is often blamed; the

expectation that large dowry must be provided for daughters in order for them to
marry is frequently cited as a major cause for the problem.

Strategies:
Strategies employed to successfully carry out the scheme are:

• Implement a sustained Social Mobilization and Communication Campaign to create equal value for the girl child and promote her education.

• Place the issue of decline in CSR/SRB in public discourse, improvement of which would be an indicator for good governance.

• Focus on Gender Critical Districts and Cities.

What can we all do as individuals?

• Celebrate the birth of girl child in the family and community

• Take pride in daughters and oppose the mentality of ‘Bojh’ and ‘Paraya Dhan’.

• Find ways to promote equality between boys and girls.

• Secure admission to & retention of girl child in schools.

• Engage men and boys to challenge gender stereotypes and roles.

• Educate and sensitize our sons to respect women and girls as equal members of society.

• Report any incident of sex determination test.

• Strive to make neighbourhood safe & violence free for women & girls.

• Oppose dowry and child marriage within the family and community.

• Advocate simple weddings.

• Support women’s right to own and inherit property.

• Encourage women to go out, pursue higher studies, work, do business, access public spaces freely etc.