Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao

In 2015, the Indian government introduced the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme to address concerns of gender discrimination and women empowerment in the country. The name Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao translates to ‘Save the girl child, educate the girl child’. The scheme aims to educate citizens against gender bias and improve efficacy of welfare services for girls. It was launched with an initial funding of Rs. 100 crore (US$ 13.5 million). The scheme was launched after the national census results for 2011 revealed detraction in key gender metrics – Child Sex Ratio (CSR) and Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB). CSR is defined as the number of girls per 1,000 boys aged 0-6 years. This ratio has showcased a steady decline, from 945 in 1999 to 927 in 2001. This declined further to 918 girls for every 1,000 boys in 2011. Detailed evaluation of the decline showed that SRB was the principal factor. Dip in these ratios is a significant indicator of gender discrimination and women disempowerment, reflecting both pre-birth discrimination through gender-biased, sex selective abortion and post-birth discrimination by neglecting health, nutrition, and educational needs of the girl child. Research concluded that the strong socio-cultural and religious preference for boys was the root cause of the problem and this provided impetus for launch of the BBBP initiative. The scheme is divided into three components – (1) advocacy campaigns were launched to address the issue of declining CSR and SBR; (2) multi-sectoral interventions were planned and are being implemented in gender-critical districts across the country; and (3) a financial incentive-linked scheme—Sukanya Samriddhi scheme—was launched to encourage parents to build a fund for female children