Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana (BBBP) 2023 - Scheme & Benefits

What Is the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme?

On 22nd January 2015, the Indian government launched its iconic Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana (BBBP), which helps address the concern of gender discrimination and women empowerment in the country.

The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana was launched from Panipat in Haryana and is managed by three key ministries - The Ministry of Women and Child Development, The Ministry of Human Resource Development, and the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

The Need For Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana

The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana, sometimes also mispronounced as the Beti Padhao Beti Padhao Yojana, was launched after the results of the 2011 national census. This census revealed a stark decline in key gender metrics. The Child Sex Ratio (CSR) is defined as the number of girls per 1000 boys aged 0-6 years.

This ratio has declined steadily, from 945 in 1999 to 927 in 2001 and 918 for every 1000 boys in 2011. Out of the 640 districts the census was undertaken in, 420 districts showed a steep decline in the number of girl children, which is about two-thirds of the country. From this list, 244 districts are below the national average of 918, which was a reason for great concern.

This dip in ratios has been due to the cultural and religious preferences of boys. This leads to female infanticide, sex-selective abortions, lack of proper care for the girl child leading to post-birth complications, and general neglect for the health, nutrition, and education of the girl child.

Thus, a national awareness campaign was crucial while enabling those from rural and marginal communities to create the financial planning to help take care of the girl child's nutrition, health, and education. On International Day of the Girl Child, the Indian Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, announced the need for eradicating female foeticide and addressing the issues to encourage girl childbirth and education.

After this announcement, the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme was launched and is now in full force in 100+ gender-crucial districts of India that were identified in the national census.

Objectives of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana

The objective of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana are as follows:

• To improve the child-sex ratio.
• Ensure gender equality when it comes to the needs of the girl child.
• Prevention of gender-based sex selection at birth by immediately putting a stop to female foeticide and shutting down pre-birth gender identification centres.
• Ensure the survival of the girl child by creating awareness about the nutrition and health needs of the girl child.
• Empower the girl child by implementing measures to promote the education and social participation of the girl child.
• Ensuring proper measures to prevent child marriage and implementing anti-dowry regulations.

Who Is the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme For?

The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme targets districts with a lower Child Sex Ratio (low number of females per 1000 males). These primarily include districts in Punjab, Haryana, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.

The target group for the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana is implemented through three vital segments:

The Primary Target Segment is:

• Newlywed Couples
• Young Couples who are planning for a child
• Lactating or Pregnant Mothers and parents

The Secondary Segment includes:

• Youth and adolescents (Girls and Boys)
• Family Members / In-laws
• Medical & Healthcare Practitioners working at private hospitals, nursing homes & diagnostic centres

The Tertiary Segment include those who can play an influential role in the primary and secondary target, which are:

• Government Officials
• Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs), which include Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti & Zilla Panchayat
• Frontline Workers, including Doctors, Nurses, Medical staff, Anganwadi Workers, social workers, Anganwadi Center Staff, and Others
• Women Self-Help Groups (SHGs)/ Collectives
• Religious Bodies, Village Bodies & Others
• Voluntary Organisations, Media, Medical Associations, & Others

Eligibility For Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme

The eligibility criteria for the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme are as follows:

• The family should have a girl child who is under the age of 10 years.
• They should have a Sukanya Samriddhi Account in the name of the girl child. This account can be opened with any Indian bank.
• The girl child has to be a citizen of India or a residential Indian. NRI citizens can, at the moment, not apply for the BBBP scheme.

Scheme Details & Key Benefits of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme

The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana has three key components:

1. Creating awareness and advocacy campaigns to address the issues of declining Child Sex Ratio and Sex Ratio at Birth.
2. Creating multi-sectoral interventions and getting different ministries involved in the planning and implementation of the scheme across gender-critical districts of the country.
3. Provide a financial incentive (Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana) that encourages parents to build a fund for their girl child, which can only be withdrawn once the girl turns 18 years of age.

Advocacy & Media Campaign

As part of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme, a national awareness campaign was crucial to ensure that the message of saving the girl child and caring for their health and well-being is disseminated across the grassroots of India.

The scheme included a multilayered media campaign to approach parents and newlyweds to destigmatise the social and cultural mindset about the birth of the female child.

The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana advocacy campaigns aim to inform these communities about the declining child sex ratio and sex ratio at birth and create a proper understanding to ensure that girls are born, raised, nurtured, and get formal education without discrimination.

The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana campaign's goal is to empower the women of this country and provide them with proper nutrition, healthcare, and financial support using the many schemes and programs.

Interventions In Gender-Critical Districts

In addition to incentives and awareness using the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme, the government also launched multi-sectoral district action plans to equip and train frontline workers for further action.

This Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana included all the states and union territories, which were identified under the 2011 national census to have a Child Sex Ratio of:

• About 87 districts in 23 states had a Child Sex Ratio below the national average.
• About 8 districts in 8 states were above average but had started to show a declining trend.

The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana seeks to empower and create actionable goals in these communities by tracking measurable outcomes and monitoring progress in these districts. These targets include:

• Improving the Sex Ratio at Birth in gender-critical districts by 2 points each year.
• Reducing gender differentials in the under-five child mortality rate by 1.5 points per year.
• Providing functional toilets for girls in every school in the district.
• Increasing first-trimester antenatal care registration by 1% per year.
• Improving nutrition and health status for the girl child, reducing the number of underweight and anaemic girls under the age of 5.

Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana Account

The Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) scheme was introduced under the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign and was created to empower financial independence for the girl child. The scheme encourages parents of the girl child, who is under the age of 10 years, to start an investment fund for their daughter.

These funds can be withdrawn only after the girl reaches adulthood, i.e., 18 years of age. The funds can thus be utilised in higher education, healthcare, marriage, or any other requirements of the girl. Some features of the SSY scheme under Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana include:

• The SSY scheme requires the parents of the girl to open an SSY account in the name of the girl at any bank (nationalised bank) in India or at the post office with a minimum amount of INR 250
• The parents can make yearly deposits in this account on an annual basis, with the upper cap being INR 1,50,000.
• The interest rate on the deposits is 7.6% annually.
• A family can open at the most two accounts (three in case they have a set of twin girls).
• The SSY offers savings benefits and can have a maturity period of 21 years, or the funds can be withdrawn once the girl turns 18 years.

Functions & Role of Each Ministry in the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme

The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana or Beti Padhao Beti Bachao scheme traverses multiple sectors and requires different ministries. These include those from state and central government along with the district-level administration.

Each ministry has been assigned specific roles and responsibilities to work in parallel. These are as under:

Role of the Ministry of Women & Child Development

• Provide proper training to workers to generate awareness about the campaign and promote its core values at the grassroots.
• Mobilising communities to create social awareness about this campaign.
• Rewarding and recognising frontline workers who are taking part in this campaign.
• Registration of every pregnancy and proper care at Anganwadi Centers and associated healthcare institutions.
• Collaboration with the Department of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare in implementing the critical aspects of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme.
• Managing program management unit or Mahila Shakti Kendras under State Resource Centers.

Role of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

• Generating awareness about preconception measures for safeguarding the woman's health and well-being.
• Implementing Pre-Natal Diagnostic techniques for better health and awareness in marginalised areas.
• Encouraging childbirth for both girls and boys by creating strict regulations against child-sex detection before delivery.
• Enforcing childbirth registration.
• Setting up committees to monitor the health and well-being of the girl child under the age of 5.

Role of the Ministry of Human Resource Development

• Monitoring all initiatives under the campaign of the girl child.
• Encouraging and increasing the enrolment of girls in schools.
• Tracking the rate of early-age school drop-outs in girls.
• Implementing all the regulations to make schools girl-child friendly.
• Enforcing actions as part of the Right to Education scheme.
• Providing facilities like clean and safe drinking water, functional toilets, free books, stationery in rural areas, and more.

Summary of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme

• The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme aims to provide financial and social independence to girls by allowing parents to create a tax-free account in the name of their girl child, from which withdrawals are permitted only once the girl turns 18 years of age.
• The saving scheme allows the girl's parents or guardians to get an easy savings facility while getting 7.6% interest per annum as part of the Sukanya Samruddha Yojana.
• The maximum limit for the deposit in this account is INR 1.50 lakh per annum, which can also be claimed for tax deductions.
• The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana is also aimed at generating awareness regarding women's empowerment and addressing the Child Sex Ratio in critical states and regions of the country.
• The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme encourages parents to put aside a particular yearly sum for the girl child. It also encourages them to grow the investment with a high-interest rate (higher than any bank FD or saving account), creating funds for the girl's health, future development, and financial security.

Documents Required For Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Application

The documentation required for Beti Padhao Beti Bachao Yojana includes the following:

• Birth certificates issued by any government body can be procured from the hospital or the Anganwadi Center when the child's birth is registered.
• Proof of Identity of the parents - which includes Ration Card, Aadhaar Card, Passport, etc.
• Proof of Address of the parents - telephone bills, electricity bills, water bills, driving license, passport, etc.
• Passport-size photograph of the parents.

How To Apply For Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme?

To apply for the benefits as part of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme, you need to follow the steps below:

• Visit the nearest nationalised bank or post office where the scheme is applicable.
• Obtain and fill out the application form for Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana/Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana.
• The form must be filled out manually and submitted with the requested documents.
• The form and documents must be submitted at the same bank or post office where the account will be opened.
• The information submitted will be verified, and once authorised, the funds will be transferred to the account of the girl child.
• The account can be managed online and offline, and the parents can deposit yearly or as per their preference in the SSY account.

Note: The SSY account can be easily transferred from one bank/post office account to another bank/post office account.

Also, there is no cash transfer component in the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana, and one should be aware of any fraudulent schemes being floated in this scheme's name.

FAQ

What is the interest rate available on the girl child's account under the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme?

As part of the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, which comes under the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana, the parents can open an account in the name of the girl child and avail of an interest rate of 7.6% per annum, which is higher than any bank FD or saving account.

What is the maximum deposit under the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme?

Once a Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account has been opened as part of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme, the parents have to add a minimum of INR 250 per year or a maximum of INR 1,50,000 per year. This sum is tax-free and can be used to avail of tax benefits.

Which schemes are part of the overall Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme?

There are various campaigns, awareness programs, and schemes under the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana, all aimed at focusing on the upliftment, empowerment, and welfare of the girl child. These include:

• The Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana
• Balika Samriddhi Yojana
• Ladli Laxmi Yojana
• Ladli Scheme
• Dhanalakshmi Yojana
• Kanyashree Prakalpa Yojana

When can the money invested under the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme be withdrawn?

Any funds deposited as part of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme can only be withdrawn once the girl turns 18 years of age.