Udaipur cop says she coined ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’, wants credit for slogan

A woman police officer in Udaipur has claimed the phrase ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’, which became popular after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a campaign for education of the girl child, was her creation.

A woman police officer in Udaipur has said she coined the slogan ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’, which became popular after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a campaign for the education of the girl child.

Chetna Bhati, station house officer of Mahila Police Station in Udaipur, has said she wrote the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ slogan but did not get credit for it.

The Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojana was introduced in 2014 to address the issue of the declining child sex ratio and to prevent sex-selective elimination of girls. It was formally launched by Modi in 2015.

The overall child sex ratio in India is one of the worst in the world. From 927 girls per 1,000 boys in 2001, it dipped to 919 girls per 1,000 boys in 2011, the lowest since 1961.

Chetna Bhati, station house officer of Mahila Police Station in Udaipur, said on Sunday she wrote the slogan but did not get credit for it. She said she had coined the phrase in 1999 as part of a poem and wrote to then chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s office in 2012 to get it used for public campaigns. The chief minister’s officer did not respond, Bhati said.

The police officer said she had also informed Gehlot about a poster prepared by her on the issue of the girl child’s safety and wanted him to formally launch it.

Bhati said she filed a Right To Information query in December last year to the Prime Minister’s Office, asking where the government picked up this slogan. Bhati said she received a reply from the women and child development ministry on February 3 but the response “was not satisfactory”. The scheme was piloted by the WCD ministry.

Bhati has now written to the Prime Minister, seeking recognition for her creativity.

“At a programme in Pali district in 2005, I even recited it. My parents took special care of us and made us study. My elder sister is a teacher and I am in police service. I very well understand the value of a girl child and wrote poetry against female foeticide,” she told PTI.

“I only want recognition, no money no publicity. Since I created this, I have ample evidence in support my claim which the government should take into consideration. The government should disclose that from where it took it,” she said.

With inputs from PTI