For Prelims: Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme, government schemes, and Ministry of Women & Child Development
For mains: Issues related to women, advantages of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme, and Non-traditional livelihoods for Girls
Why in the news?
The “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” (BBBP) Scheme’s expanded mandate includes the training of girls in non-traditional livelihood (NTL) options, according to the announcement from the Central Government.
- The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MW&CD) emphasized the significance of coordination between various departments for delivering high-quality education to empower girls at the national conference on skilling in non-traditional livelihoods for girls.
What do we need to know about the BBBP Scheme?
- To address the declining Child Sex Ratio (CSR) and related issues of women’s empowerment over a life-cycle continuum, the Prime Minister introduced the Scheme on January 22, 2015.
- The Ministries of Women and Child Development (MW&CD), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MH&FW), and Ministry of Education are working together on it.
- Main Objectives:
- Avoiding sex-selective elimination with gender bias.
- Making sure the girl child is protected and survives. oc
- Encouraging girls to attend school and participate.
- Defending the rights of young girls.
- Innovative Interventions under BBBP: Innovations that have fostered a supportive environment for girls include:
- Guddi-Gudda Boards: (Public display of birth statistics showing the proportion of girls versus boys). An illustration is the installation of digital Guddi-Gudda Display Boards in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district.
- Breaking Gender Stereotypes & Challenging Son-centric Rituals: Observing a special day to honor the value of girls and participating in plantation drives that represent nurturing and care for girls are some ways to celebrate the birth of girls. Examples include Selfie with Daughters (Jind district, Haryana), and Cuddalore (Tamil Nadu).
Targeted Group of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme
- Primary: newly married couples, Pregnant mothers, lactating mothers, parents, and young married couples.
- Secondary: Doctors, in-laws, private hospitals, Diagnostic centers, nursing homes, youth, and adolescents.
- Tertiary: voluntary organizations, religious leaders , The general public, media, women SGHs, medical associations, and industry associations.
Key Features of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana
- To raise awareness and ensure improvement, debates, and discourses about lowering the child sex ratio (CSR) are being set up.
- Promoting community involvement and striving for improved development in relation to the growth and birth of a girl child.
- Establishing public relations campaigns to spread information about the BBBP program.
- The rally for societal change should involve local government officials being trained as well as staff from government agencies and educational institutions.
- The BBBP program seeks to prevent dehumanizing behaviors like female infanticide and foeticide while also ensuring the safety of young girls.
- In order to ensure that every girl child has appropriate access to education, the promotion of women’s participation in education is a key component.
What New Changes Have Been Made to the BBBP Scheme?
- The revised BBBP scheme has some new objectives, some of which are:
- Ensuring a 1% increment in enrolment at the secondary level, particularly in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) subjects.
- Yearly training of women and girls (primarily in non-traditional livelihoods).
- Promoting safe menstrual hygiene awareness.
- Eliminating child marriages through legislation.
- Other Changes to the Scheme:
- The MW&CD also emphasized the coordination of efforts among various departments to provide girls with quality education (including vocational education).
- A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the MW&CD, the Ministries of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and the Ministries of Minority Affairs to ensure that teenagers finish their education, develop their skills, and enter the workforce in a variety of professions.
- The BBBP scheme’s implementation will be discussed with states and UTs by a national committee led by the Secretary of MW&CD, which was established under the larger Mission Shakti.
What Additional Programs Support Girl Children?
- Beti Bachao Beti Padhao
- Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana
- CBSE Udaan Scheme
- National Scheme of Incentives to Girls for Secondary Education
- National Girl Child Day
- Scheme for Adolescent Girls
- Sukanya Samridhi Yojana
What exactly do Non-Traditional Livelihoods (NTL) entail?
- “Non-Traditional Livelihoods” (NTLs) are industries and occupations where women’s participation is and has historically been minimal or nonexistent due to the categorization of the work in society based on gender, like STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) subjects.