District to implement scheme to save girl child

Rachna Khaira

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Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, February 8

Jalandhar has been chosen along with eight other districts by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development (MW&CD) for the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign in the state.

While informing this, District Programme Officer Amarjit Singh Bhullar said the Social Security and Development of Women and Children, Punjab, has asked the respective district-level units to prepare a detailed action plan for the implementation of the project in their area.

“We have recently sent the plan to the department for their final approval,” said Bhullar. “The department is expected to get around Rs 10 lakh under the project for the current financial year ending on March 31,” he said, and added, “The Women and Child Development Department will be made the nodal officer and the education and health department will support the project.”

“Under the detailed action plan, we have chosen 50 villages in rural areas and few pockets in urban areas where child sex ratio is the least as compared with other areas in the district,” said Bhullar. He further informed that while the health department will ensure the proper implementation of the PC & PNDT Act and the registration of expected mothers in the district, the education department will ensure educational opportunities to the girl child.

While the state government has launched many schemes to ensure a health sex ratio in the state, many districts including Jalandhar is yet to show improvement. The problem is more in urban slum areas, villages, people living below poverty line and even amongst a section of the high strata of the society.

The scheme was earlier launched on January 22 last year at Panipat in Haryana to address the issue of declining child sex ratio in the country. In the first phase, MW&CD had selected around 100 districts in the country, including 11 in Punjab. Now along with Jalandhar, the scheme will be launched in eight other districts including Faridkot, Bathinda, Ludhiana, Moga, Ropar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Nawashehar.