Friday, December 11, 2015

Are we putting the money where the mouth is?

It’s not long back we heard about problems faced by girl child and how they were killed even before they born. Even if they born, life is not easy in many parts of our nation. It is believed that, lack of awareness and educational level of society are the main culprits. In many states of India, gender ratio is skewed to such an extent that families started looking for bride from other states.

So, how do we expect our government will act? With extreme urgency right? Well, I can’t completely blame government for inaction. They acted; in fact, they came up with something called ‘Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao’ scheme. Keystones of this scheme is - implementation of ‘Pre-Conception & Pre Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC & PNDT) Act’ and gender awareness campaign in 100 districts were Child Sex Ratio is very low.

In addition to that, “Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) provides for… opening of schools in the neighbourhood to make access easier for girls… additional teachers including women teachers, free textbooks, free uniforms, separate toilets for girls, teachers’ sensitization programmes to promote girls participation, gender-sensitive teaching learning materials… scheme of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas as residential upper primary schools for girls belonging to SC/ST/Minority Communities, BPL families and girls in difficult circumstance”

For girls in secondary schools we have ‘Rashtriya Madyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA). National Scheme of Incentive to Girls for Secondary Education (NSIGSE), exemption from paying tuition fee in Kendriya Vidyalayas, and 33% reservation for girls in Navodaya Vidyalayas. I don’t know how many deserving candidates made use of these schemes.

Unfortunately, I am concerned about the amount allocated for ‘Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao scheme’, its just 200 crores under 12th five-year plan. Just think about the gravity of issue and then think again about allocated amount. I am not saying that, allocating big amount will increase a program’s efficiency. But it’s too low to have any meaningful impact on 100 crisis districts of India.
I can only hope that government will open its eyes. Otherwise…

Sajeev

Reference


1.       GoI Press Release

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