BBBP to be extended to all districts

GSPaper-2

Syllabus: Welfare schemes for women

Context:

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao will now be extended across the country.

BBBP is the Centre’s flagship programme (under the Women and Child Development Ministry) for women’s empowerment, which focuses on the education of girls child and improving the sex ratio.

It was launched in January 2015 to address sex-selective abortion and the declining child sex ratio which was at 918 girls for every 1,000 boys in 2011.
It is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Ministry of Human Resource Development.
The programme is operational in 405 districts at present.

WCD ministry published comprehensive guidelines for Mission Shakti.

Guidelines include:

Aim for zero-budget advertising ( nearly 80% of the fund has been used for advertising in BPPP)
Encouraging greater spending on activities that have an on-ground impact such as:
- promoting sports among girls
- self-defence camps
- construction of girls’ toilets
- making available sanitary napkin vending machines and sanitary pads, especially in educational institutions
- awareness about PC-PNDT Act.
New targets: Target of improving the Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) by 2 points every year, improvement in the percentage of institutional deliveries at 95% or above.
To check dropout rate: 1 per cent increase in enrolment at secondary education level and skilling of girls and women per yeas is targeted.
Strengthen One-Stop Centres (OSCs): It was set up to help women facing violence, including domestic violence and trafficking
- 300 OSCs will be set up in the districts that either has a high rate of crimes against women or are geographically large, preferably in aspirational districts.
- The OSCs help in coordination and convergence with other initiatives under Nirbhaya Fund — such as women’s helplines, Anti-Human Trafficking Units, women’s help desks, special fast-track courts, and District Legal Service Authority, etc.
- Women in need (girls of all ages and boys up to 12 years) — can take temporary shelter at the OSCs for up to five days. For long-term shelter, arrangements will be made by OSCs in coordination with Shakti Sadan.
Raising awareness about safe menstrual hygiene management.
The toll-free, 24-hour women’s helpline number 181
Nari Adalat — for providing women with an alternate grievance redress mechanism to resolve cases of petty nature (harassment, subversion, curtailment of rights or entitlements) at the gram panchayat level.