January 24: National Girl Child day

The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi said that the central government has taken many initiatives that focus on empowering the girl child. He highlighted that, the initiatives also provide a better access to education, better healthcare and improves the gender sensitivity. This statement was made by him on the occasion of National Girl Child Day.

National Girl Child Day

• The National Girl Child Day is observed on January 24 every year.
• It is an initiative was started by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in 2008.
• The day is observed with the objective of providing all support and opportunities to the girls in India.
• It further aims to promote the awareness about the rights of the girl child and to increase awareness on the importance of education, and health and nutrition of the girl.

National Girl Child day 2021

• This year the day was celebrated with the objective to awareness on the issue of declining Child Sex Ratio (CSR).
• The day also marked the anniversary of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme.

Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme

This scheme was launched in 2015 by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Human Resource Development. The scheme has been implemented through a national campaign and focussed multi sectoral action in selected 100 districts which have low CSR. The scheme covers all States and Union Territories (UTs). The scheme mainly targets the states like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Punjab and Bihar.

Why this scheme was needed?

The scheme was launched in the view of declining sex ratio because of sex-selective abortions or female foeticide, pre-birth and post-birth discrimination against girls. As per the census 2011, there was a decline in CSR from 945 in 1991 to 927 in 2001 and further to 918 in 2011.

Objectives of BBBP scheme

The scheme was launched with the objective to prevent the gender biased sex selective elimination, to ensure the survival & protection of the girl child and to ensure the education and participation of the girl child.

Month: Current Affairs - January, 2021