NEW DELHI, Aug 5: More than 78 per cent of total Rs 446.72 crore released during 2016-2019 for ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ scheme was spent only on media advocacy, a Parliamentary Panel has said, suggesting that the Government should reconsider spending on advertisements.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee said the Government should instead focus on planned expenditure allocation for sectoral interventions in education and health under the Government’s flagship scheme.
The Sixth Report of the Committee on Empowerment of Women (2021-22) on the action taken on the subject “Empowerment of Women through Education with Special Reference to ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ (BBBP) Scheme”, was presented in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
The panel said over the last six years, through focused advocacy BBBP has been able to capture the attention of political leadership and national consciousness towards valuing the girl child.
“Now, it is time to focus on other verticals by making ample financial provisions to help achieve measurable outcomes related to education and health envisaged under the scheme,” it said.
Calling it one of the most important schemes of the Government to improve child sex ratio in backward regions and ensure education of the girl child, the committee recommended that the Government should, hereafter, reconsider spending on advertisements under the scheme and focus on planned expenditure allocation for sectoral interventions in education and health.

The committee said according to the scheme’s guidelines, regular or quarterly meetings are to be conducted to review the progress at the district level.
Regular process of documentation of all activities conducted at the district/block and gram panchayat level is required to be undertaken through regular reports and photographic documentation at the district level, it said.
“However, the committee finds that there is a lapse in undertaking required number of task force meetings and collecting monthly reports or statement of expenditure from districts on time. Such examples of non-compliance of the guidelines are clear indicators that the scheme is not being reviewed or monitored properly,” the committee said.
The panel noted that regular audits and real-time updating of activities are necessary to ensure compliance.
“The committee also finds that records of the activities held for information, education and communication at the state/district level with the national task force authorities are not maintained,” it said.
The panel recommended that being the nodal ministry of the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ scheme, the Ministry of Women and Child Development must ensure that review meetings of national, state and district task forces are conducted as per the scheme’s guidelines.
In order to achieve better oversight, the committee said the Ministry should develop without further delay the online management information system portal for monitoring and supervision at state, district, block and village level and to make available the data in the web portal for transparency and real-time monitoring.
“Social audit of BBBP should compulsorily be got done either by the civil society group or third party/expert at the district level and the outcome may be communicated to this committee,” it said. (AGENCIES)

 Aug 5: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday alleged that India is witnessing the “death of democracy” and anybody who stands against the onset of dictatorship is “viciously attacked”.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here ahead of the nationwide protest by the Congress, Gandhi said the sole agenda of the government is that people’s issues such as price rise, unemployment and violence in society must not be raised.
There is no democracy in India and there is a dictatorship of four people, he alleged.
What we are witnessing is the death of democracy. That is what India is witnessing. What India has built brick by brick, starting almost a century ago, is basically being destroyed in front of your eyes,” Gandhi said.
All of you know it, all of India knows it. Anybody who stands against this idea of the onset of dictatorship, does not matter who he is, where he comes from, which state, which religion, male or female, that person is viciously attacked, put in jail, arrested, beaten up,” he said.
The idea is that people’s issues, whether they are price rise, unemployment, violence in society, must not be raised, Gandhi said.
He alleged that the government is being run to protect the interests of four-five people and this “dictatorship” is being run in the interest of “two-three big business people by two people”.
The Congress is set to hold nationwide protests and will also ‘gherao’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence against price rise, unemployment and GST hike on some essential items.
Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs of the party will also hold a “Chalo Rashtrapati Bhavan” (march to Rashtrapati Bhavan) from Parliament to register the protest against price rise and unemployment.
In all capital cities, the state units would organise a gherao of Raj Bhavans in which MLAs, MLCs, former MPs and senior leaders will participate. (Agencies)