The Gist of Kurukshetra: June 2015

The Daughter Disadvantage (Free Available)
Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Programme: An Eagle’s Eye View (Only For The Subscribed Members)
Gender Equality And Women Empowerment (Only For The Subscribed Members)
Panchayati Raj And Women (Only For The Subscribed Members)

The Daughter Disadvantage

The last two censuses of India in 2001 and 2011, registered a declining Child Sex Ratio (CSR) in India. CSR is defined as ‘the number of females per 1000 males in 0-6 years of human population’. The rate of decline in CSR was 13 and 18 points respectively. According to a UN data, CSR dropped from 964 in 1971 to 918 in 2011. There was a steady decline of CSR in two thirds of India’s 664 districts as shown in Table 1. A 2011 study in Lancet conclusively proved that between 1980 and 2010, 12 million girls were selectively aborted in India. The girl child faces persistent threats to life and security due to the socioeconomic structure of India. Despite the improvement in Matenal Mortality Rates (MMR), declining CSR continues to be a worrying problem. Absence of stringent implementation of legislations like Pre Natal Diagnostics Techniques Act 1994 (PNDT) and The Dowry Prohibition Act 1961 also lead to the persistence of the problem. Beyond sex selective abortion and female infanticide, daughters are seen as a financial liability and a social burden.

The Problem of the Missing Women

The problem of the ‘missing women’ has been analysed in the academic world in the recent decades. In an article published in the British Medical Journal in 1992, Amartya Sen analysed the neglect of the girl child in Asia and Africa. Beyond female infanticide and sex selective abortion, he identified economic status and social standing as crucial variables that contributed to the women’s survival and dignity. Nationwide reports of two female infanticide in 1986 and 1988 in Tamil Nadu in India captured the country’s attention to the survival of the girl child. Backed by the feminist movement, Maharashtra brought out the first legislation banning misuse of PNDT for sex determination. A Union law followed in 1994 and has been amended twice.

Since the 2000s, there has been a focus beyond sex selective abortions to the continuing neglect in the life of the girl child. The need for a multi sectoral approach that includes information dissemination, behavior change communication and community mobilization has been the core of the policy approach to save and nurture the girl child. The Government of India (Gol) brought out ‘an inter ministerial scheme to reverse the declining CSR and improve gender inequality through education, creating awareness and improving public service delivery in women’s schemes’. Along with the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD), the other ministries involved were Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Human Resource Development and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

After the new Gol came into power, on 24 July 2014, the MWCD declared that protecting and educating the girl child would a top priority. During the independence day speech delivered by the Prime Minister (PM), four schemes were picked out as those under top priority in which Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (BBBP) was also included along with Jan Dhan Yojana, Swacchh Bharat Campaign and Make in India Campaign. Later in the year on 31 October 2014, a district action plan was revealed in the inaugural address of the Minister of MWCD with the District Collectors. This action plan revealed one of the policy targets was reducing Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) at birth by 10 base points per year. To achieve this, early registration of pregnancy, 100% institutional deliveries and birth registration were envisaged. The Sarpanch was to be the nodal officer at the Panchayat level.

At the district level, strict implementation of Pre Natal Diagnostics Technology (PNDT) Act was to be done. Each district was to be given a budgetary allocation of Rs 100 crores each once they submitted their multi sectoral plan to implement the policy. The district collectors were introduced to the policy challenges through three workshops and two consultative meetings with the MWCD. The second policy target of educating the girls was to be done through a multi pronged strategy. Preventing child marriage through compulsory birth registration and monitoring, economic incentives to encourage girl’s schooling and stringent implementation of The Dowry Prohibition Act 1961, were the suggested modus operandi. The Zila Panchayat was to be the focus of BBBP.

The four main objectives of the scheme are (i) to prevent sex selective abortion by stringent monitoring of PNDT Act (ii) to improve CSR through compulsory registration of pregnancy, institutional delivery and registration of births (iii) to ensure participation of girl in health and education programmes by providing monetary and non monetary incentives for the family (iv) to create a nurturing and safe environment for the girl child by ensuring her access to all the entitlements available to her.

The core strategies of the programme were to mobilize an awareness and community campaign, to empower Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) to be the nodal agencies of programme implementation, to enable service delivery by putting in place institutions and delivery mechanism and to create an inter ministerial convergence for the programme implementation. In order to implement the scheme, 100 gender critical districts were selected out of which 87 had a CSR below the national average, eight districts where it was above the national average, but showing a declining trend, and five districts where it was above the national average and showing an improvement. The last five districts were selected in order to maintain CSR and make them models for the other districts.

The BBBP has been included in as a priority policy to be implemented in 100 select districts of India with an estimated cost of Rs 200 crores. Out of this, 10.0 crores has been through budgetary allocation. Another 100 crores is to be allocated from the planned outlay of ‘Care and Protection of the Girl Child- A Multi Sectoral Approach’ of the 12th Five Year Plan (FYP). The allocations would be released towards the Consolidated Fund of each state after the action plan by the State has been approved by the MWCD. Additional resources can be raised through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the States.

Monitoring of the policy is to be done at three levels. The national level monitoring is done by Secretary, MWCD by heading a Task force. This would be on a quarterly basis. The State level monitoring is done through a Task Force headed by the State Secretary. The district level monitoring is done with respect to the district action plan. BBBP is to be seen in convergence with other national policies that have been recently initiated to protect women and the girl child. Ministry of Home Affairs has decided to spend Rs 150 crores to improve the safety of women in large cities. In the Union Budget of 2014-15, the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways was given Rs 50 crores for pilot projects to safeguard women in public transport.

On 22 January 2015, Sukanya Samridhi Yojna (SSY), a cash deposit scheme for the girl child was launched. Under this programme, a girl child below 10 years will have bank accounts. Parents need to deposit only Rs 1,000 at the time of her birth, followed by any amount in multiples of 100 thereafter, for the girl to get Rs 1,50,000 when she is 18 years old. The account could be opened in any post office or authorised branches of commercial banks. As an incentive, a higher rate of interest of 9.1% and income tax rebate was given to such bank accounts.

A convergence of policy environment between the Centre and the States as well as between various ministries is an appropriate strategy to tackle a deep rooted problem like the declining Child Sex Ratio. Concerted efforts at protecting the gild child at birth and continuing provision of services in nutrition and education should be strictly implemented. Making PRls the focus of the programme is likely to yield better results because the service delivery and accountability is more effective at the decentralized level.