Girls born in Mumbai civic hospitals will get free BEST passes soon

Girls in the city will soon have free travel passes till they complete their school education. In a move to promote education girls and promote women’s emancipation, the Shiv Sena led Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has proposed to issue free BEST passes to every girl child born in civic run hospitals.

The travel passes will be valid till a girl completes her higher secondary education. The move has been put forth by the standing committee chairman Rahul Shewale.

“It’s an initiative to promote their education and encourage parents to send them to schools without worrying about the financial constraints,” said Rahul Shewale.

Under the National policy on education, studying till the eighth standard is compulsory. However, several students drop out of schools because of the ever-increasing costs. The latest statistics states that for every 100 boys out of school, there are still 117 girls in the same situation in the city.

“It is the part of the party’s mandate. The move will also help bring down the drop out amongst girls and will also leverage the small ratio of female-male population in the city,”added Shewale.

BMC runs three civic run schools and sixteen peripheral hospitals and various maternity wards. Health officials claims that the birth rate of girls in the city is lower than that of boys. The proposal is under the BEST budget.

The financial viability of the recommendation is being studied.

A concrete decision on issuing the free passes to the girl child will be taken during the budget session of the BEST, said chairman Sanjay Potnis.