Few takers for Centre’s girl child scheme in Patiala district: Survey

Patiala, February 23

A survey to assess the impact of schemes meant for the girl child in the district has found that less than 40 per cent eligible girl children have Sukanya Samridhi Yojana accounts at present. The main reason for low percentage is a lack of awareness and people’s interest in these schemes.

During the survey conducted by Dr Jyoti Garg, Project Director, and her team, it was found that 90 per cent of the respondents having girl child aged below 10 either didn’t know anything about Sukanya Samridhi Yojana or had just heard about the scheme but were unaware of its guidelines and benefits.

The research project was sanctioned by the Indian Council of Social Science Research to Dr Jyoti Garg, Assistant Professor in Economics, University College, Miranpur.

For the dissemination of the findings of the project, a workshop was organised at the college. It was inaugurated by Dr Ashok Kumar Tiwari, Dean, Academic Affairs, Punjabi University; and Dr Parmod Kumar Aggarwal, Finance Officer, Punjabi University.

Stakeholders and experts, including Dr Davinder Kumar Madaan, Professor and Head, School of Social Sciences, Punjabi University; and Dr Jaswinder Singh Brar, Professor, Centre for Research in Economic Change, Punjabi University, evaluated the findings of the study.

Bank officials from Punjab and Sind Bank, Miranpur; State Bank of India, Devigarh; and officials from the Postal Department were also present. They also provided valuable inputs about the scheme.

Dr Garg said the scheme was a small savings scheme for the girl child. But the low enrolment ratio due to a lack of awareness on the scheme needed to be addressed immediately.