'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' to include menstrual hygiene awareness

The Centre has revised its flagship 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' scheme to include skilling of girls in non-traditional livelihood options, increasing their enrolment in secondary education, raising awareness about menstrual hygiene, and promulgating elimination of child marriages, a senior official said.

Non-traditional livelihood (NTL) options are those where women are historically under-represented.

Speaking at a national conference on skilling in non-traditional livelihoods for girls, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said to give a fillip to Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, a component of skilling in NTL has been introduced as part of the programme.

Through this initiative, girls will be given skill training in non-traditional vocations thereby making them torchbearers of women-led Aatmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India), she said.

Women and Child Development Secretary Indevar Pandey said the focus will also be on removing the barriers that stop girls from pursuing diverse livelihood opportunities.

"The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme has been revised, and it has a new and refreshing look. Some of the new aims we have for the scheme include ensuring one per cent increment in enrolment at secondary level and skilling of girls and women every year, raising awareness about safe menstrual hygiene, and promulgating elimination of child marriages. These are the new elements being included in BBBP," he said.

An operational manual to implement the scheme in districts was also launched at the event.

"It has BBBP activity calender that has been streamlined to aid the districts to implement the scheme in sustained and inclusive manner throughout the year. We will also focus on removing the barriers that stop girls from pursuing diverse livelihood. We will also try to form a system that will enable girls to be exactly who they want to be in future," Pandey said.

According to the manual, a national committee headed by the Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development, made under the larger Mission Shakti mandate, will be the apex committee to review implementation of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao at regular intervals with state governments and Union territory administrations.

The committee shall meet at least once in a year preferably in the month of April and monitor the progress of the overall scheme activities and status of achievement of objectives.

At the state-level, the overall implementation of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao will be done by a committee, made for Mission Shakti, headed by the Chief Secretary. The committee will have officers from the Department of Women and Child Development, Social Welfare Department and other relevant departments of the state concerned.

At the district level, the implementation of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao will be done by the Mission Shakti Committee headed by District Magistrate/District Collector and having officers in charge of the Women and Child Development Department and other nodal departments.

An MoU was signed as a joint commitment to skilling girls by the Women and Child Development Ministry, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and the Ministry of Minority Affairs.

It emphasises convergence between ministries and departments to ensure that adolescents complete their education, build their skills and enter the workforce in a diverse set of professions, including science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), where girls have historically been under-represented.