Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao: Centre spent 56% of funds on publicity, minister tells Lok Sabha
New Delhi, Jan 22: More than 56% of the funds for the “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” scheme have been allocated for media-related activities since 2014-’15, with less than 25% being distributed to states and districts, information released by the government has shown. The scheme, launched in January 2015, attempts to address the declining child sex ratio and other issues of women empowerment in India.
Union Minister of State for Women and Child Development Virendra Kumar told the Lok Sabha on January 4 that the government had allocated Rs 648 crore for the programme in the last five years and spent 56.27% of it, or Rs 364.66 crore, on advertising. Only 24.5%, or Rs 159.18 crore, was disbursed to states and districts.
The Centre had earmarked Rs 280 crore for the scheme in 2018-’19, out of which Rs 155.71 crore was allocated for advertising and Rs 70.63 crore distributed to states and districts. The government had failed to release Rs 53.66 crore, or over 19% of the funds.
This number was higher in 2017-’18, with 68% of the Rs 200 crore, or Rs 135.71 crore, allocated to advertising. In 2016-’17, the government had earmarked Rs 29.79 crore for publicity as opposed to distributing Rs 2.9 crore to states and districts.
Kumar was responding to a question by MPs Kapil Patil and Shivkumar Udasi of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Sushmita Dev of the Congress, Gutha Sukender Reddy of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, and Sanjay Jadhav of the Shiv Sena.
When asked if the scheme had failed due to lack of policy implementation, ineffective monitoring mechanisms and diversion of funds, Kumar replied in the negative. “Since 2018-’19, all 640 districts [as per Census 2011] of the country have been covered under Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao scheme,” he answered.
Courtesy: scroll.in
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6 women dead, 8 persons injured as bus rams into van in Gujarat's Sabarkantha
Sabarkantha (Gujarat) (PTI): Six women were killed and eight other persons injured after a private bus crashed into a van on a highway in Gujarat's Sabarkantha district on Wednesday, police said.
The van was ferrying women from Modasa in Aravalli district when a speeding bus hit it from behind on National Highway 48 connecting Shamlaji to Himmatnagar in the district, Deputy Superintendent of Police A K Patel said.
According to police, the women were part of a catering team for social events. They were travelling from Modasa in the neighbouring Aravalli district to Hunj village in Himmatnagar to attend a function when they met with the accident.
Six women passengers of the van were killed, Patel said.
Seven other women and the van driver suffered injuries, according to police.
The injured persons were rushed to the Himmatnagar civil hospital. The condition of two of them was critical, the hospital's medical officer, Dr Dhrupad Chauhan, said.
The bodies were sent to a government hospital for a postmortem.
VIDEO | Gujarat: Six persons were killed and four others injured after a private bus rammed into a van on a highway in Sabarkantha district on Wednesday, police said.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 29, 2026
The van carrying passengers was on its way from Shamlaji to Himmatnagar when the speeding bus hit it from… pic.twitter.com/Gvr79LfCvi
