‘Girls get raw deal in Union Budget’

Though one of the key objectives of the much-touted Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme is to advance education of the girl child, Haq Centre for Child Rights has revealed that the education of girl child is not a priority. The budget for the scheme remains the same between 2018-19 and 2019-20 at Rs 280 crore, says the report. On the other hand, budget for the National Scheme for Incentive to Girl Child for Secondary Education has even seen a substantial cut of 61 per cent, going down from Rs 255.90 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 100 crore in 2019-18.

The analysis noted that the reports indicate that that there are only 7,316 crèches operational in India as against a target of 23,555 crèches to be reached by April 2018. In this context, the budget cut for the National Creches Scheme to Rs 50 crore this year, is a huge disservice, it added. The lack of creches is a huge disadvantage for parents who have no place for child care and shelter even as they work. Given the vulnerability of girl children, this is a major challenge.

Moreover, the Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme (SSAS), which is also an integral part of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign, seems to have been missed out completely. The Child Sex Ratio (CSR) witnessed an overall decline of 2 points from 908 in 2005-06 to 899 in 2015-16.  Sex ratio at birth declined from 887 per 1,000 boys in 2014 to 881 in 2015, and further to 877 in 2016. The report observed that out of Rs 280 crore allocated for the BBBP scheme in 2018-19, nearly a fifth (Rs 53.66 crore) remained unspent. Only 25 per cent (Rs 70.63 crore) was released to States/districts, while 55.6 per cent (Rs 155.71 crore) was spent on media related activities. The report observed that the Ministry of Women and Child Development failed to report on progress made under this scheme in the last four years, adding that its budget implications are never disclosed.

Kumar Shailabh, co-director of the organisation, said that considering that the budget allocation has remained the same for the scheme over the years, it is difficult to gauge the intent. “The allocation is only at face value, even as the BBBP scheme is the NDA’s flagship programme. The allocation can only be seen in the face value and not much on its intent,” he pointed out.