Odisha’s ‘Beti’ Not So Safe As Sex Ratio Plunges Down

Bhubaneswar: In contrast to the national trend, the sex ratio at birth (SRB) has declined in Odisha.

As per the Centre’s Health Management Information System (HMIS), the SRB in Odisha has declined by 10 points from 948 (in 2014-15) to 938 (in 2019-20). On the other hand, the national level SRB has improved by 16 points from 918 to 934 during the same period.

Besides Odisha, the SRB has also declined in two other large states —Bihar by 19 points and Karnataka by 8 points.

Notwithstanding the declining sex ratio, Odisha’s utilisation of funds released under the Centre’s ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ (BBBP) scheme has been abysmally low.

Of the funds received by Odisha in the last five years, around Rs 3.46 crore was lying unutilised by the end of January 2021, Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Zubin Irani informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

The minister further informed that 15 districts of Odisha have been identified for multi-sectoral interventions under the BBBP scheme, which was launched in 2015-16 to address the issue of decline in child sex ratio and create an enabling environment for education of the girl child.

These districts include Nayagarh, Dhenkanal, Angul, Ganjam, Cuttack, Khurda, Deogarh, Sundargarh, Sambalpur Kendrapara, Jajpur, Jharsuguda, Bhadrak, Balasore and Kalahandi.

As per an evaluation report by NITI Aayog, the scheme has been able to generate significant mass-mobilisation to eliminate gender discrimination and valuing the girl child, she said.

Irani, however, added that though the scheme has been able to develop many good practices and community-level initiatives, Odisha has witnessed a declining sex ratio and also failed to utilise the funds received.

She said consistent efforts need to be made at all levels to generate awareness about the rights of girl child through community engagement, stopping sex selection at birth and encourage positive action to support their education growth and development, The New Indian Express reported.

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