“Beti Bachao Beti Padhao”, a Yojna for every Beti of Bharat!
March 07, 2022
Government of India launched “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” Scheme in 2015 with a vision to improve the Child Sex Ratio (CSR) (measured as number of females per 1000 males between 0-6 years of age) and bring change in respect of the fundamental rights of a girl child. It was widely implemented in the country, focusing on the “Beta, Beti, Ek Saman” motto.
The Scheme was motivated by the declining trend in CSR since 1961. More recently, CSR declined from 945 in 1991 to 927 in 2001 and further to 918 in 2011. This decline was indicative of female infanticide and overall discrimination against female children and women—especially in terms of healthcare and education.
Reasons for implementing Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojna
- Unstable and low Child Sex Ratio
- Curb the crime of female infanticide
- Promote equality between boys and girls from initial stages of childhood
- Ensure that every girl child has access to education and healthcare, enabling her to become more self-reliant
Objectives of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojna
- Women and child development by preventing female infanticide: In India, the ratio of the girl child to boys was diminishing for decades due to female infanticide. With the roll-out of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, the vision was to create awareness about the rights of every girl, right from birth to throughout her life.
- To ensure every girl gets access to education and is secure and protected: Education lays the foundation of a fulfilling life, making the person knowledgeable and skilled. By increasing awareness about the right to education of the girl child, this Scheme is creating a more equitable society.
- Overall family and health welfare: An educated girl who is aware of her rights and understands how to access various opportunities such as healthcare schemes, vocational trainings, Government schemes targeted to help women and children, can take better care of the family unit. In the long term, this leads to a more educated and broad-minded society.
Developments under Beti Bachao Beti Padhao: Resolve@75
- Improvement in Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB): SRB has witnessed improvements at the national level. It has improved by 16 points from 918 in 2014-2015 to 934 in 2019-2020 according to the Health Management Information System (HMIS) of India. Further, 422 of 640 districts covered by this Scheme have shown improvement in SRB between 2014-15 to 2018-2019, with marked improvements in parts of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab.
- Improvement in school enrolment: After the implementation of this Scheme, the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) (meaning – for a particular level of education, total enrolment as a percentage of the eligible official school-age population in a given school-year) of girls increased from 77.45 in 2014-2015 to 81.32 in 2018-2019 as per the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) (India) data.
- Improvement in women’s health:
- As per the Health Management Information System (HMIS) of India, percentage of 1st trimester ANC Registrations (meaning pregnant women registering with a hospital or seeking medical care and advice) has improved from 61% in 2014-15 to 71% in 2019-20
- Similarly, percentage of Institutional Deliveries (meaning deliveries taking place in a medical institution under the supervision of trained healthcare professionals) has improved from 87% in 2014-15 to 94% in 2019-20
- Increased awareness about the rights of the girl child: After Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojna was introduced, many districts have actively taken part in its widespread campaigning. Districts such as Pithoragarh (Uttarakhand) have organized several street plays to convey the message and make people aware of female infanticide.
Schemes such as Beti Bachao Beti Padhao have empowered women by providing them access to education and healthcare. More and more districts and States are joining hands and their collective efforts and are bringing about considerable positive changes in society. Honoring the rights of women is paving the way for development, enabling women to have access to equal growth opportunities.