56% Of Funds For Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Spent On Media and Publicity

New Delhi: Central to the success of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 22, 2015, was to check the decline in child sex ratio and change the mindset regarding girl child. But it has met with limited success. This is because 56 per cent of the funds allocated were utilised for media and publicity.

1. This figures were disclosed by none other than the Central Government itsef in Parliament. Till now the government has allocated Rs 644 crore for the scheme, out of which only about Rs 159 crore have been sent to districts and states.

2. Union Minister of State for Women and Child Development Dr Virendra Kumar in a reply on January 4 in Lok Sabha gave a break up year wise figure of the funds allocated and the money spent on media and publicity.

3. If we look at 2017-18 financial year, out of Rs 200 crore allocated for the scheme,  only Rs 33.2 crore was released to the states and districts and the rest Rs 135.71 crore was spent for media and publicity.

4. During the ongoing financial year, out of the Rs 280 crore allocated for the mission, Rs 155.71 crore has been earmarked for media and publicity, leaving only Rs 70.63 crore for disbursement among the states.

5. News portal The Quint analysing the child sex ratio in 161 districts said, the scheme’s success has been partial at best. In 53 out of 161 districts, the Child Sex Ratio has actually declined since 2015. These include 32 out of 100 districts from phase one and 21 out of 61 districts from phase two. However, the child sex ratio has increased in rest of the districts.

6. The pattern of expenditure, is “highly skewed towards just one pillar of the scheme” – publicity, felt economist Mitali Nikore.

7. Only a small proportion of the funds, about 5 percent each, was allocated for education and health interventions”, she said, underlining the reason for its poor success rate.

8. “Further, another 5% is allocated for training and capacity building at the district level, with training at the central level receiving only 1%,” she further wrote in a blog in The Times of India.

9. Actor Madhuri Dikshit has served as brand ambassador of the mission.