Government of India Initiatives – Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Abhiyaan

Dear Readers,

Current affairs forms an important component of several competitive exams such as the UPSC Civil Services Examination, SSC CGL, Bank PO & PSU entrance tests, etc. Therefore, understanding terms/concepts that are in the news is critical for aspirants.

New initiatives and socio- economic policies or what are known as flagship programmes announced by the Union Government are often asked in competitive examinations. Therefore, to help you deepen your understanding of the same, we at PaGaLGuY bring you information on such initiatives announced by the Government of India.

In today’s article, we will look at some of the highlights of the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Abhiyaan’.

Background:

Indian government’s Ministry of Women and Child Development has introduced a new scheme called, ‘Beti Bacho, Beti Padhao’ to tackle the trend of declining sex ratio in the age group of 0-6 years. It aims to improve the imbalance in sex ratio, uphold the right to education for girls and ensure their welfare in totality.

Why do we need this scheme?

The 2011 census revealed that in the age group of 0-6 years, the number of girls per 1,000 boys was down to 919 as against the previous 927 girls recorded in 2001. Moreover, though sex determination of an unborn child has been declared punishable by law, the practice of female foeticide has become more rampant with availability of easy diagnostic tools thereby complicating the problem.

Scholars and researchers have rightly pointed out that disempowerment of women begins even before the birth of a girl child and continues throughout her life with discrimination in matters of nutrition, access to opportunities (vis-a-vis boys) and other educational and social needs. The government’s Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Abhiyaan aims to combat these deep rooted problems.

Let us look at some of the key points of the scheme:

The programme is implemented by the Ministry of Women and Child Development with an initial corpus of Rs 100 crore. The funds will be used to create awareness and improve efficiency of welfare services meant for women. As the focus is on gender mainstreaming, school curricula will have chapters on this subject to sensitise students from a young age along with the teachers and community at large.

Important activities that will be carried out to this effect are:

* Start school management committees (SMCs) to ensure universal enrollment of girls

* Balika Manch in schools to encourage participation of girls in schools

* Construction of girls toilets

* Repair dysfunctional toilets

* Completion of Kasturba Gandhi Bal Vidyalayas

* Sustained campaign to re- enroll dropout girls from secondary schools

* Construction of girls hostels for secondary and senior secondary level.

To learn about other GoI initiatives click here:

(a) AMRUT and Smart cities –

https://www.pagalguy.com/articles/amrut-and-smart-cities-missions-important-initiatives-by-the-345423…

(b) Swacch Bharat Mission –