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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Hit by car, delivery agent dies after falling from flyover in Delhi
New Delhi (PTI): A food delivery agent died after falling from the Dabri flyover in southwest Delhi when his scooter was allegedly hit by a car on Thursday morning, police said.
The car driver fled from the spot, police said.
A PCR call was received at 7:35 am informing that a person had fallen from the Dabri flyover on Pankha road and required immediate medical assistance, they said.
A police team rushed to the spot and found a damaged scooter and a car on the flyover. The scooter rider sustained serious injuries and was immediately shifted to a nearby hospital in an ambulance, where doctors declared him dead, they added.
According to police, the victim was identified as Rajkumar, a resident of Jharkhand's Godda district. He was working as a delivery executive with a private food delivery service in Delhi.
The car involved in the accident bears a Delhi registration number and is registered in the name of a Dabri resident, police said.
"The body has been preserved in a mortuary and efforts are underway to apprehend the absconding driver," a senior police officer said.
A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and an investigation is underway to ascertain the exact sequence of events leading to the accident, police said.
