Urging them to take the scheme seriously, Gandhi said that the schemes were not going to be implemented on their own.
Union minister of women and child development Maneka Gandhi on Monday reprimanded the state officials of several states whose sex ratio index did not improve almost a year after the government's flagship Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme took off. In a review meeting of the programme, Gandhi met with the district collectors, or additional district collector of the 100 districts that were picked up last year for being the worst in India as per sex ratio.
Urging them to take the scheme seriously, Gandhi said that the schemes were not going to be implemented on their own. "Just to ensure that the scheme is taken seriously and that you take personal interest in it, I will send a note to the Prime Minister and to the state governments, naming the collectors of the districts that have fared badly," said Gandhi.
58 districts out of the 100 worst districts improved whereas, 42 showed a decline. In North Sikkim, Karnal (Haryana), Saiha (Mizoram) and Cuddalore (Tamil Nadu), the sex ratios improved by more than 100 points. However, in Dibang Valley (Arunachal Pradesh), Lakshadweep and Yanam (Puducherry), there was a sharp decline of more than 200 points. Other districts where the ratio dipped were Dholpur (Rajasthan), Baghpat (Uttar Pradesh) and Bharatpur (Rajasthan).
Of these, the sex ratio in four districts improved by more than 100 points, and in three more the improvement was of over 50 point. In three districts, on the other hand, there was a sharp decline of over 100 points. The meeting also saw in attendance the officials of 61 more districts that have been adopted this year under the scheme.
Analysing the reasons forwarded by the districts, Gandhi said that some of them were baseless. "We must learn that the schemes will not be implemented on their own. Some of your reasons have been that the money has not percolated from the centre, but an amount of Rs 1 crore is just chicken feed for you. Jammu and Kashmir and Rohtak (Haryana) have given the excuse of 'civil unrest'. While in J&K's case I can accept it, in Rohtak's case it is unforgivable," she said.
"Some of you have also mentioned transfers of collectors as reasons, but is the collector alone taking care of the project," she said.
Some of the success stories, however, came from Haryana, which has over 12 districts under the scheme. Barring Rohtak, the several districts in Haryana could effectively implement the scheme by busting female foeticide rackets by relying on informers. By instituting an award of over Rs 1 lakh for effective information, the officials could successfully bust several such rackets, some interstate ones, in Dwarka (Delhi), Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh), Bakkarwala and Uttam Nagar in Delhi, Ambala, Moga in Punjab and Sirsa, Yamunanagar and Jhajjar in Haryana.
In Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh), the government choose young girl achievers as brand champions, and put them on billboards across the district to infuse pride. In Jalgaon (Maharashtra), the district collector introduced the guddi-gudda board, that displayed disaggregated birth statistics, and also acted as a medium for advocacy and information by showing movies.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Maneka Gandhi")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}