Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme

Why in News?

According to recent guidelines issued by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) Scheme will be extended to all Districts.

What are the Guidelines?

• The ministry has now targeted improvement in the Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) by 2 points every year, improvement in the percentage of institutional deliveries at 95% or above.
• Increasing girls’ participation in sports by identifying talent and linking them with appropriate authorities under ‘Khelo India’.
• Promoting self-defence camps, construction of girls’ toilets, making available sanitary napkin vending machines and sanitary pads, especially in educational institutions, awareness about PC-PNDT (Pre-Conception & Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques) Act 1994, etc.
  • PC-PNDT act aims to ban the use of sex selection techniques before or after conception and prevent the misuse of a prenatal diagnostic technique for sex-selective abortion.
• Zero-budget advertising and encouraging greater spend on activities that have on-ground impact.
  • In 2021 parliamentary committee on empowerment of women in its report stated that nearly 80 % funds for the BBBP scheme has been used for advertising, and not on sectoral interventions such as women’s health and education.
• Strengthen One-Stop Centres (OSCs), set up to help women facing violence, including domestic violence and trafficking, by adding 300 OSCs in districts which either have a high rate of crimes against women or are geographically large, preferably in aspirational districts.

What is BBBP?

• 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.

Source: IE