Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao now includes skilling

Published
12th Oct, 2022

Context

The Centre has expanded the scope of its flagship outreach program ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' to include skilling.

Details:

The government has decided to include skilling for girls in its Beti Bachao Beti Padao programme and has included the following component in the scheme:
- Ensuring a 1% annual increment in enrolment at the secondary school level
- To raise awareness about safe menstrual hygiene
- To promulgate the elimination of child marriages
The scheme will now also focus on increasing the enrolment of girls in secondary education, particularly in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) subjects.
Women have been historically under-represented in areas such as technology.

Implementation:

A national (apex) committee will review the implementation of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme.
It will be headed by the Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development, formed under the larger Mission Shakti mandate, will be the apex committee

Component of Skilling- Non-traditional livelihoods (NTL):

Girls will be given skill training in non-traditional vocations.
This will potentially make them torchbearers of women-led Atmanirbhar Bharat.
It is reasoned that skilling, empowerment, and non-traditional livelihoods are the areas where women are historically under-represented.

Non-traditional livelihoods” (NTLs): It is the sectors and jobs where participation of women is and has historically been conventionally low or absent.

About Beti Bachao Beti Padao:

It was launched in January 2015 with the aim to address sex-selective abortion and the declining child sex ratio which was 918 girls for every 1,000 boys in 2011.
This is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
The program is being implemented across 405 districts in the country.