Women Empowerment Through

“Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” Andolan

Women Empowerment has always been a pressing issue in a country like ours, where Women’s Rights is brushed under the rug, by the overpowering Patriarchal society. Even though there has been a major improvement when it comes to Women’s Rights in the past few years, we still have a long way to go. The “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” is one of the initiatives introduced by the Government of India to support Women Empowerment in India.

The “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” Yojana (which roughly translates to Save the Daughter, Educate the Daughter) was launched by Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi on 22 January 2015. The main aim of the initiative is to increase the enrollment of girls in Primary, Secondary, and Higher Secondary schools in the country. Another aim of the initiative is to reduce the cases of female feticide and infanticide in the country.

(courtesy: time.com)

There have been a lot of cases of female feticide and infanticide in our country. People generally see the girl child as a burden on the family, and hence they prefer a male child. This has led to a skewed sex-ratio in our country. This problem is mainly prevalent in Tier-3 towns and villages, where the masses are uneducated.

The initiative aims at educating the masses on the importance of a girl child. Volunteers go to various small towns and villages to educate the people on the matter. They also explain the various schemes and scholarships by the government, such as scholarships for girl children and free education till 12th in government schools. The government also gives various scholarships to girls who pursue higher education and post-graduation.                                           

The government has also made stringent laws that punish anyone who does sex-selective discrimination, in any sphere. The government has also identified 100 districts where the Child Sex Ratio (CSR) is very low. CSR refers to the ratio of female children with respect to male children. Districts, where CSR is very low, have been given the highest priority in the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme.

The government also launched a media campaign advocating for Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme, where advertisements are run advocating on educating the girl child. Posters were also set up on billboards at various places. The government also held various workshops promoting gender equality and educating the girl child, at various schools, hospitals and clubs across the country.

The program aims to educate the masses on the importance of the girl child in all spheres of life. It also advocates for educating the girl child, so that she can be independent and pursue the career of her choice. With this, she wouldn’t have to worry about financial issues. Education also meant that women can now join the workforce. This would address the skewed sex ratio at the workplace.

           (Courtesy: readersdigest.in)

Educating the girl child also means that there will be financial security for her so that no one can blackmail or harass her. There would be lesser cases of dowry deaths. In cases where the woman wants to file a divorce, she can do so freely without worrying about finance.

The main targets for the scheme are as follows. The first target is to improve the sex ratio at birth (SRB) in selected gender critical districts by 2 points in a year. Another target is to reduce the child mortality of children under the age of five years. It also aims to improve the nutrition status of girls by reducing the number of underweight and anaemic girls under five years of age. The government has launched the midday meal scheme at various schools in the country to ensure that the children have access to healthy and nutritious food and to reduce nutrition-related problems among children, especially girls. Access to midday meals also means that lesser children drop out of school.

Another problem that the initiative faced was the lack of facilities for girls, such as a separate toilet for girls. Many of the schools in rural areas didn’t have toilets at all. The government aims to build toilets for boys and girls at every school in the country. Another target of the initiative is to promote a protective environment for girl children through the implementation of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012. Finally, the initiative also aims to train a few elected representatives/ grassroots functionaries as community champions to improve the child sex ratio, education of girls, and educating the masses on the importance of protecting and educating the girl child.

The initiative has been implemented successfully so far, with the increase in enrollment ratio of girls in Primary, Secondary and Higher Secondary school. The enrollment of girls into the university has also increased. The cases of female feticide have also reduced. In the past few years, women are at par with men in various professional fields. The yojana still has a long way to go, but the positive outcomes that the yojana has shown give us a positive ray of hope.