Unbelievable Beti BachaoBeti Padhao Success Stories

 Unbelievable Beti BachaoBeti Padhao Success Stories

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao is one of the most ambitious approaches of the Government of India regarding girl’s education and protection . This scheme aimed at mass awareness on gender disparity and related challenges of girl children in India.

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao was launched in 2015 by the Ministry  of Women and Child Development of India. Its main objectives were protecting girl child, eliminating gender-based bias and ensuring education for the daughters of country . The scheme targeted Districts with gender critical data and low child sex ratio. Active community involvement in campaigning for  birth and growth of girl child was a major characteristic of the project . It also ensured  training and motivation of local government bodies for efficient implementation of the programme.  BBBP was launched at a time when the entire Indian society was witnessing gender atrocities and violence . A few of the popular schemes under this benefitting programme are Sukanya Samridhi Yojana, Balika Samridhi Yojana, Ladli Laxmi yojana, Ladli Scheme and Kanyashree Prakalpa Yojana.

There was breaking news flash in Uttar Pradesh there was a lady who had left her three-days old daughter in front of someone's house. The owner of that house informed the police & the police got the baby admit it in the hospital for the treatment. Although the authorities are investigating this particular case, it is a stark reminder that we Indians shamelessly continue to kill a large number of our girls either inside the mother’s womb or after their birth.

In our Indian society, a woman has various connotations including “Durga”, “Laxmi”, “Love”, “Mother”, “Honour”, “Pride”, “Beauty” but also “Prostitution”, “Trafficking”, “Rape”, “Acid Attack”, “Harassment”, and “Slave”. For a long time, a girl child has been considered a curse in the Indian society; a social burden, for “who will carry forward the legacy of the family”; an economic burden, for “who is going to pay that hefty amount of dowry”. Although already one of the top powers in the world, the demons of ill-minded societal norms still cloud over India’s present. For some reasons, we have not been collectively able to overcome these archaic norms and narrow-minded thinking. For some reasons, we continue to fail our girls.

Even though we have sufficient laws banning female foeticide, the problem has not gone away. In fact, many would argue that the problem has only become worse. This perhaps necessitates a different approach to solving this menace. We do not need families not killing a girl child because the laws say so, or because they fear being punished. We need them to not kill a girl because they want a daughter. We need them to celebrate having a baby girl. Towards this end, we think that in addition to penalizing the offence, there needs to be a robust mechanism which incentivizes having a girl child in the Indian families.