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MP govt to rechristen Ladli Laxmi scheme, aims to make girls self-reliant
According to a new draft, the home, law, industry and other few departments will also be part of the scheme
The Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led Madhya Pradesh (MP) government has apparently realised the flaws in the save the girl child campaign called Ladli Laxmi Scheme (LLS) 13 years after it was launched.
The realisation has come following a decrease in sex ratio at birth by 33 points.
The state government is considering certain changes to the LLS to make it more effective.
State women and child development (WCD) department officials said the LLS couldn’t be effective as more focus was given on providing financial assistance to girls for school education and also for their marriage. These measures were not enough to change the patriarchal mindset of the public towards a girl child, they added.
Officials said the data released by various national agencies in the past related to skewed sex ratio at birth, drop-out rates of girls from schools, the growing number of cases of female infanticide and foeticide suggest a worrisome trend.
“The benefit, which is being provided under the LLS, will continue as it has become a law. But the WCD department is all set to introduce an integrated scheme in place of all old state-run schemes, including the LLS with a new vision to save the girl child. The renewed focus will be more on making girls self-reliant, independent, breadwinners for their respective families and inspiration for others in ushering social changes,” said a WCD official.
“Under the new scheme, the girls will be given financial aid for higher education, for preparation of competitive examinations and to set up a business. A campaign will be run to give a social message that a girl child can earn and is no more a burden. The achievers will be projected as brand ambassadors by the department,” said the officer.
“Similarly, training will be held regularly in rural and urban areas for boys to make them sensitive about girls and to change their mindset. A social audit will be conducted regularly to know the change in society,” he added.
According to a new draft, the home, law, industry and other few departments will also be part of the scheme in a bid to ensure if any crime is committed against a woman, then justice will be delivered to her.
Plans are afoot to eradicate stigmatisation of rape survivors and her family members and other acts of violence against women.
In 2007, the LLS was introduced to improve skewed sex ratio, foster a positive attitude towards girls in the society, provide education to them and stop social evils such as infanticide and foeticide.
But, the scheme failed to deliver expected results, the government data showed.
MP’s sex ratio at birth worsened from 960 in 2005-06 to 927 in 2015-16, as per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) report.
Non-governmental organisation (NGO) Pratham’s Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), 2018, report, which was released the following year, showed that the drop-out rate for girls in the 11-14 age group and in the 15-16 age category increased to 7.7% and 26.8%, respectively, from 7.3% and 23.4%, respectively, in 2006.
The Asian Centre for Human Rights Commission (ACHRC) report, which was released in 2016, showed that MP had the highest cases of female infanticide and foeticide (537) in the country between 1994 and 2014.
The report had prompted the state government to make changes to the LLS.
Veena Bandyopadhyay, social policy specialist, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said: Some positive changes were found, but the preference for sons continues in the society. The state government should take additional measures to promote girl child by providing job training and helping them in becoming an earning member of her family.”
Waseem Siddique, convener, Childline Indore, said, “The LLS has failed to curb foeticide and infanticide cases in the state. Though MP is the worst-affected state, only 50 such cases were reported until 2018. A total of seven people have got convicted until August under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC&PNDT) Act, 1994”
The WCD department has accepted the flaws in the scheme during various inter-departmental meetings, officials said.
“The scheme, which has over 36 lakh beneficiaries, failed to address several concerns. The major flaw in the LLS is that the beneficiary gets ₹1 lakh after she attains 21 years of age and the money cannot be used for education. The money is set aside for solemnising a girl child’s marriage. Similarly, the grant of ₹12,000, which is being given in three installments to ensure school education of girls, is not enough to change the mindset of the public,” said a WCD officer, requesting anonymity.
Another WCD officer said, “The government’s emphasis on marriage and school education finances created an impression that a girl child is a burden. In the past 13 years, the department hardly conducted any mass survey to know the impact of the scheme, which led to various unfavourable reports.”
Prashant Dubey, a child rights activist, said parents feel marriage is the only way to protect their daughters. “The department should address this concern of parents because this is also a reason behind infanticide, foeticide and drop-out from schools,” he said.
Minister for WCD Imarti Devi said, “The old benefits in the LLS will continue. In the new scheme, we will focus more on making a girl child independent and self-reliant. Similarly, the coordination with other departments, including home and panchayat, will also help to provide a safe environment to our girls. We are serious about our girls’ future and the changes in the campaign will reflect our intent. The new scheme will address all pending issues.”
