Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme

• IAS NEXT, Lucknow
• 13, Dec 2021

Reference News:-

The Parliamentary Committee on Empowerment of Women has noted in its report that the Government spent 80% of the funds under the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ (BBBP) scheme on media campaigns.

What needs to be done now?

Over the last six years, through focussed advocacy BBBP has been able to capture the attention of political leadership and national consciousness towards valuing the girl child.

• The government must now revisit this strategy and invest in measurable outcomes in health and education for girls.

About BBBP:

• 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.
• The programme is being implemented across 640 districts.
• It is a tri-ministerial effort of Ministries of Women and Child Development, Health & Family Welfare and Human Resource Development.

Outcomes of the scheme:

1. As per the Ministry of Health, the sex ratio at birth is showing promising trends of improvement and has improved by 16 points from 918 (2014-15) to 934 (2019-20).
2. Health percentage of first trimester Antenatal Care (ANC) has shown an improving trend from 61 per cent in 2014-15 to 71 per cent in 2019-20.
3. The education gross enrolment ratio of girls in the schools at the secondary level has also improved from 77.45 per cent (2014-15) to 81.32 per cent (2018-19-provisional figures).