Jaipur: Richa was happily surprised when her mother-in-law announced that she will celebrate her granddaughter’s birth. The young mother was expecting to see sad faces when she gave birth to a daughter. But, to her disbelief, everyone was so happy in her family.
“It was unbelievable. A sangeet ceremony was organised. All the relatives, friends and neighbours were invited and treated to sweets and gifts, my mother-in-law made it a point to celebrate my daughter’s birthday every month till she turned one,” she fondly remembered. Now, everyone in her extended family has adopted this practice.
This may take a while to become a social custom but from the lows of killing its daughters before they were born, Rajasthan is striving hard to become a model state in the country in “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao”. Since 2013, the state government has launched or upgraded as many as 30 schemes to support and encourage birth of girls.
In six years, child sex ratio has come up from a low of 888 in 2011 to a healthy 925. Of the 14 districts included in “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” mission for having the lowest sex ratio, 10 boast a healthy sex ratio of more than 950. In fact, Jhunjhunu, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will come later this month for the pan-India launch of his pet scheme, the sex ratio has risen from 837 to 952 since 2011. The performance has even earned it the Nari Shakti Puraskar for 2017 by the Union ministry of women and child development.
Less than 100 km from state capital Jaipur, a village panchayat in Dausa, which is among the 100 districts with one of the worst child sex ratio welcomes a new born girl with a thali ceremony in which a bronze plate is beaten to announce the birth of a baby and sweets distributed. Till not long ago, the ceremony was held only when a baby boy was born.
Lohawat gram panchayat in Kota district celebrates every girl’s birth with sweets and drum beats, a fruit-bearing tree is planted and the family of the new-born baby girl is honoured on ndependence and Republic Days. People in Piplantri village plant 111 trees every time a girl is born thus saving girl children and increasing the green cover at the same time. Following a unique initiative by district administration, priests conducting Hindu marriage ceremonies in Sikar, Bharatpur and Sriganganagar ask the bride and bridegroom to take an oath against female foeticide.
Above all, parents of girls receive a congratulatory letter from chief minister Vasundhara Raje. The government also has a scheme that offers monetary benefits at every stage in a girl’s life from pre-birth to the time she is born, enrolls in school, goes to college, starts work, gets married and becomes a mother.
Under the Rajshree Yojana, a girl’s parents get Rs 50,000 in instalments, beginning from her birth to the time she passes out from school. The government also offers scholarships, including the one that provides Rs 25 lakh to study abroad.
Under the Medhavi girl scooty vitran scheme, a free scooty is gifted to girls securing more than 75% marks in Class 12. Free cycle are given to girls in Class 9.
Besides, there is a 30 per cent quota for women in government jobs. And, when a girl from BPL family gets married, her family gets Rs 10,000 but if she has studied up to Class 10 the money triples. If she is a graduate the government’s marriage grant quadruples.
In a parallel effort, the state is vigorously enforcing the Pre-Conception & Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994, to prevent the misuse of technology in sex determination. The government floated a ‘Mukhbir’ scheme with a Rs 2 lakh award for an authentic tip-off of sex selection or determination. Once information is received on helpline number 104, health department officials launch a decoy operation to nab the culprits. So far, 93 decoy operations have been conducted by state’s PCPNDT cell.
