PM Narendra Modi to launch 'Beti Bachao' scheme with a bang on January 22

NEW DELHI: After Swachh Bharat and Make In India, the Modi government's big bang flagship scheme will be `Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' (BBBP), which will help address the country's low child sex ratio.The scheme will be launched by PM Narendra Modi on January 22 and will focus on a multi-sectoral approach to tackling the problem of the vanishing girl child.
A toilet in every girls' school in 100 vulnerable districts, an innovation fund at state-level to encourage best practices in improving child sex ratio (CSR) and gender inequities, district-level awards to schools strengthening girl child education are some of the targets that the scheme hopes to accomplish by 2017.

The Rs 100-crore scheme is expected to be monitored by the Maneka Gandhi-headed ministry of women and child development (WCD) in coordination with the ministries of health and HRD. Au dits are expected to be done by civil society and the CAG to ensure that targets are met.

The launch is expected to be a high-wattage affair with Union ministers, chief ministers of West Bengal, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Haryana and senior officials attending it.

The objectives of the scheme is to prevent genderbiased sex selection by stringent enforcement of laws, especially by strengthening the implementation of PreConception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Pro hibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994 (PC&PNDT Act) with strict punishments for violations.

BBBP will also ensure access and availability of essential requirements related to nutrition, healthcare, education and protection and elimination of discrimination against a girl child which can lead to low self-esteem, lifelong deprivation and exclusion from the mainstream.

Initiatives will be taken to encourage girls to express their views and to be heard, to help them participate actively , effectively and equally at all levels of social, economic, and political leadership. Longterm interventions for gender equality would focus on creating enabling environment.The objectives will be achieved through convergence and coordination with concerned ministries, departments and district administration.

The decline in the CSR, defined as number of girls per 1,000 boys between 0-6 years, has been unabated since 1961.The decline from 945 in 1991 to 927 in 2001 and further to 918 in 2011 is alarming.