National Girl Child Day 2023: Top 10 Central Government Schemes For Girl Child In India

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In the year 2021, women constituted 48.4% of the total population in India says World Bank data indicator.

Child Sex Ratio (CSR) is defined as the number of girls per 1000 boys between 0-6 years of age in a human population set. The decline from 945 in 1991 to 927 in 2001 and further to 918 in 2011 is alarming. It reflects both, pre-birth discrimination (gender-biased sex selection) and post-birth discrimination against girls.

While a decade later, the sex ratio at birth has become slightly better, there is no denying that irrespective of the country, timeframe or religion, the women population has been harassed, discriminated and exploited.

What's worse? Denying them the most basic fundamental right, i.e, 'The Right To Life', which is violence against women and what we know as Female Foeticide. The practice or phenomenon involves the termination of a pregnancy based on the predicted sex of the child after pre-natal sex determination, especially if it is a female embryo or foetus.

Gender biases exist around the world and therefore, sex selection is mostly attributed to 'son preference' (or 'daughter aversion') because families prioritise having sons over daughters due to religious beliefs, and historical and economic reasons.

So, here is how many females have their health, rights and future stolen in India- 46 million in 50 years and this nation accounts for nearly half of the missing female births across the globe.

The data on child sex ratio, as available in the State reports of NFHS-5. Check the report here.

According to Pew Research Centre, 'Without sex selection in India, the sex ratio at birth would be roughly 105 boys per 100 girls. This natural sex ratio at birth was the balance for decades before prenatal sex detection technology was introduced in the 1970s. When the natural sex ratio at birth prevails, about 48.8% of all children born are girls'.

The research further suggests that 'from a large imbalance of about 111 boys per 100 girls in India's 2011 census, the sex ratio at birth appears to have normalized slightly over the last decade, narrowing to about 109 in the 2015-16 wave of the National Family Health Survey and to 108 boys in the latest wave of the NFHS, conducted from 2019-21.'

Therefore, every year in India, on 24 January, National Girl Child Day is observed to celebrate female children and raise awareness about the rights of a girl, emphasise and support them in terms of nutrition, health and education and eliminate gender biases from all areas.

Let us look at 10 Central government-sponsored girl child schemes that aim to change the attitude of society towards girl children in India and help them to uplift their standing in this nation.

1. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) Scheme

The key objective of this scheme is to save a girl child from sex-selective or gender-biased abortions, change the social attitude of citizens and advance the education for girl children across the nation. It doesn't have any provision for the collection of donations.

Objectives, Features And Benefits

• Preventing sex-selective or gender-biased abortion
• Ensuring survival and protection of the female child
• Offering a safe and stable environment to girl child
• Ensuring education and participation of the girl child
• Promotion of rights of a girl child

2. Balika Samriddhi Yojana

The scheme aims for the welfare as well as the betterment of a girl child through a scholarship scheme to support female children from weaker sections of society. It also protects them from being a victim of female foeticide and the stigma associated with the birth of a female child and aims to improve the enrolment of girls in schools.

Objectives, Features And Benefits

• Cash benefit of Rs 500 to the mother of a newborn baby girl
• An annual scholarship of Rs 300-1000 till 10th standard to a girl child while attending school
• Withdrawal facility of balance amount available after the female child turns 18 or is still unmarried

3. National Scheme of Incentives to Girls for Secondary Education

This scheme benefits girl children belonging to backward classes of India. If one is eligible for this, an amount of Rs 3000 as a fixed deposit is deposited on her behalf. Once, she reaches passes the 10th exam and becomes 18 years old, that amount can be withdrawn with interest.

Eligibility Criteria

• All girl children need to be aged less than 16 years to be eligible for this scheme.
• All girl children who have passed class 8 exams, from SC/ST category or any other social class from Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas are eligible for this scheme.
• A girl child who is enrolled in numerous central government schemes such as NVS, KVS, and CBS is not eligible for this scheme.

4. Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY)

It is a special government-backed savings scheme that features a girl child as the primary account holder while the parent/legal guardian is a joint holder of the account. An SSY account can be opened even before the girl child completes 10 years of age whereas after opening the account, financial contributions need to be made for 15 years.

Features And Benefits

• One can partially withdraw the amount for the higher education of a girl child.
• It is completely a tax-exempt investment, a tax deduction benefit under section 80C of the IT Act 1961
• Long-term investment of up to 15 years is possible under this scheme

5. CBSE Udaan Scheme

The main objective of this scheme is to increase the enrollment of girls studying in CBSE-affiliated schools, especially from economically backward sections of society in prestigious colleges of India related to engineering and technology. They must be enrolled in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics streams in classes 11th and 12th and the family income of the female student must not exceed Rs 6 lakh annually.

Features And Benefits

• Free online course material and resources for girl students for 11th and 12th standard
• Peer learning and mentoring opportunities for meritorious girl students
• Tracking and monitoring of a student's progress
• Virtual contact classes for girl students of 11th and 12th standard on weekends.

Apart from that there are several state government girl child schemes such as Ladli Laxmi Yojana (Madhya Pradesh), Ladli Scheme (Haryana), Karnataka Bhagyashree Scheme, Mazi Kanya Bhagyashree Scheme (Maharashtra), and Kanyashree Prakalpa (West Bengal).