Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme

• 13 Dec 2021

Why in News

A parliamentary committee on empowerment of women has flagged under-utilisation of central funds for schemes related to programmes targeted at the girl child - particularly the flagship Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao scheme from 2014 to 2019.

Key Points

• Findings of the Committee:
  
  • Poor Utilization of Funds:
    
    • Since the inception of BBBP in 2014-15 till 2019-20, the total Budgetary allocation under the scheme was Rs. 848 crore, excluding the Covid-stricken financial year of 2020-21.
    • During this period, an amount of Rs. 622.48 crore was released to the States but only 25.13% of the funds has been spent by the States and Union Territories.
  • Improper Spending of Funds:
    
    • A whopping 80% of funds under the flagship BBBP scheme was spent on media campaigns.
    • The massive spend on advertisements was despite the clearly laid down formula for utilisation of funds – Rs. 50 lakh per year is earmarked for a district for utilisation under six different components.
      
      • Of the Rs 50 lakh, 16% of funds are for inter-sectoral consultation or capacity building, 50% for innovation or awareness generation activities, 6% for monitoring and evaluation, 10% for sectoral interventions in health, 10% for sectoral interventions in education and 8% as flexi funds.
  • Recommendation:
    
    • The government should reconsider spending on advertisements under the BBBP scheme and should focus on planned expenditure allocation for sectoral interventions in education and health.
• BBBP Scheme:
  
  • About:
    
    • It was launched in January 2015 with the aim to address sex selective abortion and the declining child sex ratio which was at 918 girls for every 1,000 boys in 2011.
    • This is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Ministry of Human Resource Development.
    • The programme is being implemented across 405 districts in the country.
  • Main Objectives:
    
    • Prevention of gender-biased sex-selective elimination.
    • Ensuring survival & protection of the girl child.
    • Ensuring education and participation of the girl child.
    • Protecting rights of Girl children.
  • Performance Analysis:
    
    • Sex Ratio at Birth:
      
      • Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) has improved by 16 points from 918 (2014-15) to 934 (2019-20), as per the Health Management Information System (HMIS) data.
      • Notable Examples (Districts):
        
        • Mau (Uttar Pradesh) from 694 (2014-15) to 951 (2019-20),
        • Karnal (Haryana) from 758 (2014-15) to 898 (2019-20),
        • Mahendergarh (Haryana) from 791 (2014-15) to 919 (2019-20), etc.
    • Health:
      
      • ANC Registration: Percentage of 1st Trimester ANC (AnteNatal Care) Registration has shown an improving trend from 61% in 2014-15 to 71% in 2019-20.
      • Institutional Deliveries: Percentage of Institutional Deliveries has shown an improving trend from 87% in 2014-15 to 94% in 2019-20.
    • Education :
      
      • Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER): GER of girls in the schools at secondary level has improved from 77.45 (2014-15) to 81.32 (2018-19) as per Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) provisional data.
      • Toilet for girls: Percentage of schools with functional separate toilets for girls has shown improvement from 92.1% in 2014-15 to 95.1% in 2018-19.
    • Attitudinal Change:
      
      • The BBBP scheme has been able to bring the focus on important issue of female infanticide, lack of education amongst girls and deprivation of their rights on a life cycle continuum.
      • BetiJanmotsav is one of the key programmes celebrated in each district.

Other Initiatives for Girl Children

• UJJAWALA: To tackle the problem of trafficking, it is a Comprehensive Scheme for Prevention of Trafficking and Rescue, Rehabilitation and Re-Integration of Victims of Trafficking for Commercial Sexual Exploitation.
• Kishore Health Card: To record the information about the weight, height, Body Mass Index (BMI) of Adolescent Girls (AGs). These health cards for AGs are maintained at the AnganWadi centres (AWCs).
• Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG).
• Sukanya Samridhi Yojana, etc.

Source: TH