Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme: Meaning, Eligibility And Benefits

In order to address rapidly decreasing sex ratio and gender discrimination in various parts of the country, the Government of India came up with a mass awareness scheme named Beti Bachao Beti Padhao. It is one of the flagship schemes of the Central Government.

To know more about this scheme, read on!

What is Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana?

The honourable Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, launched this scheme with massive fanfare in Haryana. The launch date of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao was January 22 2015. The main aim of this was to address the rapidly declining child sex ratio, promote women empowerment and end gender-based discrimination that is prevalent in our society. The Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Human Resource Development (now referred to as Ministry of Education), and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare jointly administer and control the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme. 

Several programmes and initiatives were undertaken by the government to achieve the goals of this scheme. It mainly aims to protect the girl child in her earlier years and empower her by taking care of her health and education.  

Objectives of BBBP

Here are the objectives of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme:

• Ensure empowerment of women and promote gender equality
• Improvement of CSR or child sex ratio
• Prevention of sex-selective abortions 
• To provide proper education to girl child 
• To ensure wider participation of girl child to improve her health and educational status
• To protect a girl child and provide her with a fair opportunity in career growth and development.

Targeted Groups under BBBP

There are 3 target groups under Beti Bachao Beti Padhao; they are as follows:

• Primary: Pregnant women, young and newly married couples, parents and lactating mothers

• Secondary: Youths, nursing homes, diagnostic centres, hospitals, doctors and in-laws
• Tertiary: Frontline workers, women, SHG, religious leaders, media and medical associations, industry associations, PRIs and officials

Schemes under Beti Bachao Beti Padhao

BBBP schemes are as follows:

• Sukanya Smariddhi Yojana 
• Ladli Laxmi Yojana
• Kanyashree Prakalpa Yojana
• Balika Samriddhi Yojana

These programmes under BBBP provide monetary, health and educational assistance to the girl child. 

Strategies of BBBP Schemes

Strategies under BBBP are as follows: 

• To ensure equal value for girl children and promote their education through sustained communication and social mobilisation campaign
• Present the issue of falling child sex ratio at birth in public discourse 
• An integrated and comprehensive action plan targeting gender-critical cities and districts with a child sex ratio lower than the national average 
• Challenge gender stereotypes and patriarchal social norms by taking communities together
• Ensure that all public welfare schemes, initiatives and programmes are responsive to child and gender rights. 
• Provide training to Panchayati Raj Institutions and urban local bodies so that they can form a social coalition with communities for this social change
•  Provide freedom to district administrations to create and implement action plans according to the local needs and conditions

Benefits of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme

The benefits of BBBP are as follows:

• SSY or Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana under BBBP provides financial security to the girl child. In addition, parents can open an account under their daughter’s name and save money for their daughter’s education or marriage.
• The government provides interest on such deposits at the rate of 7.6% per annum. 
• The interest income on this account is completely tax-free.
• Only the girl child can withdraw the entire corpus when she attains the age of 18. This would enable her to become financially independent. 
• It will help provide quality education to the girl child, thereby improving her standard of living. 
• BBBP will help the government in addressing the critical issue of declining child sex ratio in several parts of the country.

 Eligibility Criteria for BBBP Benefits

Here are the eligibility criteria for availing of the benefits of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme:

• The girl should be an Indian citizen to be eligible for this scheme. 
• Family having a girl child below the age of 10 years is eligible for benefits under this scheme.
• A family must have an SSA (Sukanya Samriddhi Account) bank account in the girl child’s name. 

Documents Required for Beti Bachao Beti Padhao

Here are the documents needed to be eligible for BBBP scheme:

• Birth certificate of the girl child 
• Any identity proof of the parents
• Proof of residence like passport, driving license, utility bills, etc. 
• Passport size photograph 

How to Apply for BBBP Yojana?

One needs to follow these steps to apply for BBBP:

• Individuals must visit the bank or post office where BBBP scheme is available. 
• They must fill out the BBBP or SSY form. 
• One must attach the documents required for availing benefits of this scheme and submit the form.

Note that it is mandatory to open an account in the name of a girl child. 

Responsibility of Citizens to Champion the Cause of  Beti Bachao Beti Padhao

There can be a change in our society only when there is collective participation of all sections towards protecting girl children and empowering them to be educationally and financially strong in future. Citizens must do the following:

• Celebrate the birth of a girl child in a family or community 
• Resist and berate the age-old tradition of gender biasedness and sex-selective abortions
• Encourage equality in homes, schools, colleges and workplaces
• Individuals must resist dowry and child marriage in their families and in society 
• Discourage gender stereotypes and patriarchal value systems  

Final Word

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme encourages the wider participation of girls in all spheres of life. The government has been very active in taking strong initiatives to drive a change in mindset. However, this scheme will only be a success when every citizen of India takes it upon himself/herself to protect the daughters of India. 

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