EMN
Dimapur, October 2
The Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojana (Save the Girl Child, Educate the Girl Child Scheme) was launched by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on January 22, 2015 in Haryana. This scheme aims to address the significant declining trend in the Child Sex Ratio (CSR) between 0-6 years of age.
According to the 2011 Census data of India, the CSR is at an all-time low of 918 in the country. Of the 100 gender critical districts identified across India, Longleng district in Nagaland has also been identified as one with its CSR at 885, indicating a sharp decline from 964 as per 2001 and 2011 census.
The Government of India, through the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (BBBP) Scheme, therefore aims to address this serious issue through a mass campaign across the country, and focused intervention and multi-sector action. The overall goal of the Scheme is to celebrate the girl child and enable her education, to make coordinated and convergent efforts to ensure her survival, protection and education.
In Nagaland, the Government of Nagaland has appointed the State Resource Centre for Women (SRCW) as the Project Management Unit (PMU) of the Nagaland chapter of BBBP. The State Task Force held its first meeting on September 17, 2015 at the Conference Hall of the Chief Secretary. The meeting was chaired by the Chief Secretary to the Government of Nagaland, Pankaj Kumar (IAS), who is also the Chairperson of the BBBP State Task Force. Both the District Action Plan and the State Action Plan were approved at this meeting.
The District Task Force of the BBBP held its first orientation and sensitization program at the Deputy Commissioner’s Conference Hall in Longleng on 29th September, 2015. The meeting was attended by Bano Vinito, Chairperson of the Nagaland State Social Welfare Board (NSSWB) and the PMU team, members of the District Task Force, Phom People’s Council, Phomla Hoichem and her colleagues, Phom Students’ Conference, Presidents of 11 wards, Village Council Chairmen and representatives of the 20 project villages, Yingla Welfare Society, Vice Principal of the Longleng Government Higher Secondary School, and the women police of Longleng.
Tauhong Phom, CDPO of Longleng and Member Secretary of the BBBP District Task Force chaired the meeting. The Welcome Note was delivered by the Deputy Commissioner, Y. Denngan Avennoho Phom, NCS, who is also the Chairman of the District Task Force.
Bano Vinito gave a brief introduction of the BBBP, in which she stressed on the seriousness of the low CSR of Longleng as indicated in Census 2011. She also laid emphasis on the importance of educating the girl child, which leads to education of the entire family; and of the significance of women and men complementing one another. Bano Vinito also said that times have changed, and the girls have to come up at par with the boys. She also challenged the members present, that positive change in Longleng district depends on their concerted efforts, and appealed to all to work together and ensure the proper usage of funds that have come for the BBBP scheme. This was followed by a power point presentation of the BBBP Scheme by Juliana R. Medom, Assistant State Coordinator of the SRCW (PMU).
Earlier, the NSSWB Chairperson, along with the PMU team also attended the Longleng District Planning and Development Board (DPDB) meeting. Bano Vinito addressed the DPDB members and introduced the BBBP Scheme to them. She maintained that the attention being given to Longleng through this scheme is the best opportunity for the district to improve on the status of girls. She called upon all to take this as a challenge and work together to ensure its success. Vinito particularly encouraged the young generation of officers to prove their worth by giving their enthusiasm and passion to it, and conveyed that a generation of girls would bless them for their work today. A power point presentation on the BBBP and its significance was made by Juliana R. Medom, Assistant State Coordinator of the SRCW, in which she informed that 20 villages under Longleng district have been identified as the project area of the BBBP.
The District Task Force meeting received positive responses from participants who expressed gratitude and anticipation for the positive changes that the Scheme would bring, especially in uplifting the status of girls in the district.
Following this, Medom also introduced the Data Bank brought out by the State Resource Centre for Women, Nagaland, which contains 49 women-centric schemes and programs under various government departments. The SCRW hopes that the Data Bank would to a certain extent, ease the struggles of women who have to go from one office to the other seeking information on such schemes.
