Irani felicitates states & districts for improving sex ratio at birth in 5 yrs

New Delhi: Celebrating the success of Modi government's one of the popular schemes – 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao', Women and Child Development ministry felicitated on Friday five states and ten districts across the country for improving Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) in five years.

WCD minister Smriti Irani awarded the representatives, like District Commissioners for their commendable work in spreading awareness among the masses.

Irani specifically hailed the performance of East Kamang in Arunachal Pradesh, which has shown a drastic change in sex ratio. In 2014-15, it was 807, which has now risen to 1039.

Haryana, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have been conferred the award among states. Among the districts, Purvi Kawang in Arunachal Pradesh, Mahendragarh in Haryana, Udham Singh Nagar in Uttarakhand, Nammakal in Tamil Nadu, Bhiwani in Haryana, Jalgaon in Maharashtra, Ettawa in Uttar Pradesh, Raigarh in Chhattisgarh, Rewa in Madhya Pradesh and Jodhpur in Rajasthan have been awarded.

There has been a 13-point improvement in the sex ratio from 918 in 2014-15 to 931 in 2018-19 and the states should aim to double it in the coming years, the minister added. Urging states to engage in convergent practices, Irani gave the example of Rajasthan's Nagaur district, where a campaign called "coffee with collector" has been launched under which the district collector holds a conversation with villagers on improving sex ratio at birth. "Since the launch of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, central and state governments with Janbhagidari has consistently strived to ensure the potential of our daughters is celebrated. These efforts have led to the national improvement of 13 points in sex ratio at birth," Irani said.

Besides, spreading for awareness about the scheme Tiruvallur in Tamil Nadu, Ahmedabad in Gujarat, Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, Kishtwar in Jammu and Kashmir, Gadag in Karnataka, Shimla in Himachal Pradesh, Wokha in Nagaland, Farukhabad in Uttar Pradesh, Sirmaur in Himachal Pradesh and Nagaur in Rajasthan have been awarded.

While addressing the event, the Secretary of WCD ministry, Shankar Aggarwal said that the declining sex ratio is a matter of concern for the government. 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' scheme aims at securing the rights of the girl child, to be born, live with dignity and achieve her full potential. It is further a measure of gender justice. The scheme also aims to enable their education.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi started the scheme during his maiden regime on January 22, 2015, from Panipat, Haryana. The scheme was initially started from 100 districts then have now expanded to all 640 districts. It aims to empower women, right from birth.

It is a tri-ministerial scheme, where three ministries – Women and Child, Human Resource and Health Family Welfare provide impetus to the scheme.

The junior WCD minister Debasree Chaudhuri was also present on this occasion.