West Bengal to implement Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme: Suvendu

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said the state will implement the Centre’s Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme, which he alleged was not implemented by the previous TMC government. He also announced expanded scholarships, women’s colleges, safety measures and support schemes

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Friday said that the state’s girls will come under the central scheme ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ which had not been implemented by the previous TMC government. The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao project, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015, is an initiative to arrest and reverse the decline in child sex ratio, ensure access to education, prevent drop-outs and create awareness on menstrual health and hygiene.

Launching the ‘Kanyartna Divas’ here, the chief minister said the BJP government has taken several steps for empowerment and education of girls and to stop dropout of girl students. During the previous Trinamool Congress government, August 14 was observed as the ‘Kanyashree Divas’ to mark the success of the Kanyashree financial assistance scheme.

---

The state government has recently rebranded the initiative, doubled the annual scholarship for school girls from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 effective from the next academic session, and kept the one-time financial grant of Rs 25,000 for unmarried women turning 18 intact.

According to an official statement, 9.48 lakh girls received Rs 1,000 and 1.29 lakh girls received Rs 25,000 directly in their bank accounts during the day, which makes the disbursement worth Rs 418 crore. “From now on, the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao will be implemented in West Bengal unlike the past when the previous government did not do it,” he said.

Listing steps by his government, the chief minister said Rs 50,000 will be given to every girl for higher education while 20,13,000 girls will be covered under the Kanyaratna scheme for which Rs 400 crore has been allotted.

The TMC government had run the Kanyashree programme for empowerment of girls in the state, but did not implement the central project, ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’, initiated by the Modi government, Adhikari said. “For students both boys and girls – wishing to study abroad, there will be another scheme by the name of Swami Vivekananda for which Rs 100 crore has been allotted,” he said.

Adhikari said more state-run Women’s Colleges will be set up. He said that emulating the ideals of 19th-century polymath and social reformer Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, the state will give more emphasis on female education and work on women’s safety. “In our budget, we have pledged our commitment to empowerment of women and see that there is no case of dropout,” he added.

Adhikari hailed the services of female IAS officer Smita Pandey as the KMC administrator “who is performing her role so efficiently.” Exhorting the girls and young women to be inspired by the spirits of patriotism and nationalism, he reminded them of freedom fighter Matangini Hazra who gave her life for the motherland.

The statement said that a new helpline number 181 was also made operational, through which one can access information on all women-related government schemes and connect directly with legal and emergency services such as police, fire brigade and ambulance. The CM also unveiled a new creche initiative, ‘PALNA,’ designed to provide safe day-care facilities, nutrition, and early cognitive development for children of working women.

This scheme, primarily delivered through Anganwadi-cum-Creches, would offer much-needed relief to working mothers and is likely to boost workforce participation among women. Nearly 1600 girl students from schools and colleges across districts of Kolkata, Howrah, North & South 24 Parganas were at the venue, the statement said.