National Girl Child Day 2024: Every year on January 24 India observes National Girl Child Day, a day dedicated to girl children and the inequality&nbsp;they face in society. The day was initiated by the country’s Ministry of Women and Child Development in 2008. Since then, every year the day has been celebrated across India with a common annual theme.

The day is generally celebrated with organised programmes and awareness campaigns like Save the Girl Child, which was launched by the Government of India mainly in target clusters of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Bihar and Delhi.&nbsp;

<h2>National Girl Child Day 2024: Why is it celebrated on January 24?</h2>

The National Girl Child Day is celebrated every year on January 24 to mark the anniversary of the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (BBBP) Scheme.

The Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme was launched on 22 January 2015 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It aims to address the issue of the declining child sex ratio image (CSR) and is a national initiative jointly run by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Education.&nbsp;

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/india-maker-of-gorilla-glass-corning-ties-up-with-domestic-firm-to-invest-125mn-682790">India: Maker of Gorilla glass, Corning ties up with domestic firm to invest $125mn</a>

Last year, as part of the celebration, the Ministry of Women and Child Development decided to make this event a janbhagidari (participated by all). States/UTs and districts were requested to organise activities relating to valuing the girl child from January 18 to January 24.&nbsp;

<h2>National Girl Child Day 2024: Objectives to celebrate this day</h2>

Celebrating National Girl Child Day annually in India has mainly three objectives. First, it is to highlight the inequalities faced by girls in the country;&nbsp;second, to promote awareness about the rights of a girl child, and lastly to generate awareness on the importance of girl education, health and nutrition.

<h2>National Girl Child Day 2024: Wishes and messages</h2>

1. May every girl be empowered with knowledge and education, unlocking endless opportunities for a bright future.

2. Wishing all the girls out there a world where their dreams are not limited by societal norms, and they can aspire to be anything they want.

3. May the world recognize and appreciate the unique qualities and talents that each girl brings, fostering a culture of equality and inclusion.

4. Here's to a future where every girl has the freedom to make choices about her life, health, and well-being.

5. Happy National Girl Child Day! Let's continue to work towards a world where girls are celebrated, protected, and given the chance to thrive.

6. May every girl grow up in an environment filled with love, support, and encouragement, enabling her to reach her full potential.

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/cm-sarma-directs-police-to-register-case-against-rahul-gandhi-as-his-supporters-break-barricades-in-guwahati-682797">CM Sarma directs police to register case against Rahul Gandhi as his supporters break barricades in Guwahati</a>

7. On this special day, let's pledge to break stereotypes and challenge biases, creating a world where girls are valued and respected.

8. Wishing all the girls the strength to overcome obstacles, the courage to pursue their dreams, and the resilience to face any challenges that come their way.

9. Happy National Girl Child Day! Let's commit to building a society that uplifts and empowers every girl to become a leader in her own right.

10. May the world be a safer place for every girl, where they can live fearlessly, express themselves freely, and contribute to the betterment of society.

(With inputs from agencies)

National Girl Child Day 2024: Every year on January 24 India observes National Girl Child Day, a day dedicated to girl children and the inequality they face in society.

National Girl Child Day 2024: Every year on January 24 India observes National Girl Child Day, a day dedicated to girl children and the inequality they face in society. The day was initiated by the country’s Ministry of Women and Child Development in 2008. Since then, every year the day has been celebrated across India with a common annual theme. The day is generally celebrated with organised programmes and awareness campaigns like Save the Girl Child, which was launched by the Government of India mainly in target clusters of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Bihar and Delhi. National Girl Child Day 2024: Why is it celebrated on January 24? The National Girl Child Day is celebrated every year on January 24 to mark the anniversary of the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (BBBP) Scheme. The Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme was launched on 22 January 2015 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It aims to address the issue of the declining child sex ratio image (CSR) and is a national initiative jointly run by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Education. Also Read | India: Maker of Gorilla glass, Corning ties up with domestic firm to invest $125mn Last year, as part of the celebration, the Ministry of Women and Child Development decided to make this event a janbhagidari (participated by all). States/UTs and districts were requested to organise activities relating to valuing the girl child from January 18 to January 24. National Girl Child Day 2024: Objectives to celebrate this day Celebrating National Girl Child Day annually in India has mainly three objectives. First, it is to highlight the inequalities faced by girls in the country; second, to promote awareness about the rights of a girl child, and lastly to generate awareness on the importance of girl education, health and nutrition. National Girl Child Day 2024: Wishes and messages 1. May every girl be empowered with knowledge and education, unlocking endless opportunities for a bright future. 2. Wishing all the girls out there a world where their dreams are not limited by societal norms, and they can aspire to be anything they want. 3. May the world recognize and appreciate the unique qualities and talents that each girl brings, fostering a culture of equality and inclusion. 4. Here's to a future where every girl has the freedom to make choices about her life, health, and well-being. 5. Happy National Girl Child Day! Let's continue to work towards a world where girls are celebrated, protected, and given the chance to thrive. 6. May every girl grow up in an environment filled with love, support, and encouragement, enabling her to reach her full potential. Also Read | CM Sarma directs police to register case against Rahul Gandhi as his supporters break barricades in Guwahati 7. On this special day, let's pledge to break stereotypes and challenge biases, creating a world where girls are valued and respected. 8. Wishing all the girls the strength to overcome obstacles, the courage to pursue their dreams, and the resilience to face any challenges that come their way. 9. Happy National Girl Child Day! Let's commit to building a society that uplifts and empowers every girl to become a leader in her own right. 10. May the world be a safer place for every girl, where they can live fearlessly, express themselves freely, and contribute to the betterment of society. (With inputs from agencies)

National Girl Child Day 2024: Why is it celebrated on January 24? History, significance | All you need to know

Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Smriti Irani said on Friday that Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) has improved by 13 points from 918 to 931 at the national level in last five years.&nbsp;

"Since the launch of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, the Central and the state governments with janbhagidari have consistently strived towards ensuring the potential of our daughters is celebrated.&nbsp;Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narender Modi, the country has made a remarkable jump in the national sex ratio of 13 points from 918 to 931 in last five years," she said.&nbsp;

The Minister was speaking at a function after presenting awards to states and districts for improved sex ratio and awareness generation under the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign. Haryana, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh received honours for improving sex ratio at birth.

Nine districts were also awarded for better sex ratio at birth which includes East Kameng of Arunachal Pradesh), Mahendragarh and Bhiwani (Haryana), Udham Singh Nagar (Uttrakhand), Namakkal (Tamilnadu), Jalgaon (Maharashtra), Etawah (UP), Raigarh (Chattisgarh), Jodhpur (Rajasthan).

During the event, 10 districts were also awarded for good work in awareness generation and outreach activities under Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign.

The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign was launched in 2015 and is, now, being implemented in 640 districts.

On the occasion, Irani made special mention of Kameng District of Arunachal Pradesh which has registered a sharp improvement in SRB from 807 in the last five years.&nbsp;

She said that this makes it clear that nothing is impossible if the Government and society collectively resolve to achieve a target.

The Minister also mentioned Mahendragarh district of Haryana where the SRB has risen to 916 from below 800 marks in 2001.

She also appreciated the work done by the district of Tiruvallur of Tamil Nadu for recording an impressive increase of 38 points in SRB from 925 to 963 in the last one year.

Acknowledging the contribution of each district in the improvement of sex ratio at birth, Irani said that with the collective efforts of the Prime Minister`s Office and the Ministries of Human Resource Development and Health and Family Welfare the girl child is now protected from birth till the rest of her life.&nbsp;

Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Smriti Irani said on Friday that Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) has improved by 13 points from 918 to 931 at the national level in last five years.

Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Smriti Irani said on Friday that Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) has improved by 13 points from 918 to 931 at the national level in last five years. "Since the launch of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, the Central and the state governments with janbhagidari have consistently strived towards ensuring the potential of our daughters is celebrated. Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narender Modi, the country has made a remarkable jump in the national sex ratio of 13 points from 918 to 931 in last five years," she said. The Minister was speaking at a function after presenting awards to states and districts for improved sex ratio and awareness generation under the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign. Haryana, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh received honours for improving sex ratio at birth. Nine districts were also awarded for better sex ratio at birth which includes East Kameng of Arunachal Pradesh), Mahendragarh and Bhiwani (Haryana), Udham Singh Nagar (Uttrakhand), Namakkal (Tamilnadu), Jalgaon (Maharashtra), Etawah (UP), Raigarh (Chattisgarh), Jodhpur (Rajasthan). During the event, 10 districts were also awarded for good work in awareness generation and outreach activities under Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign. The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign was launched in 2015 and is, now, being implemented in 640 districts. On the occasion, Irani made special mention of Kameng District of Arunachal Pradesh which has registered a sharp improvement in SRB from 807 in the last five years. She said that this makes it clear that nothing is impossible if the Government and society collectively resolve to achieve a target. The Minister also mentioned Mahendragarh district of Haryana where the SRB has risen to 916 from below 800 marks in 2001. She also appreciated the work done by the district of Tiruvallur of Tamil Nadu for recording an impressive increase of 38 points in SRB from 925 to 963 in the last one year. Acknowledging the contribution of each district in the improvement of sex ratio at birth, Irani said that with the collective efforts of the Prime Minister`s Office and the Ministries of Human Resource Development and Health and Family Welfare the girl child is now protected from birth till the rest of her life.

Sex ratio at birth improved from 918 to 931 in five years: Smriti Irani

The Centre has spent a total of Rs 364 crore since 2014 in advertising the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign, one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet projects that aims to improve the child sex ratio, the Ministry of Women and Child Development said Friday.

The highest amount spent on advertising the campaign was Rs 155.71 crore in 2018-19 (till December 31, 2018), Minister of State for Women and Child Development Virendra Kumar said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

The government spent Rs 18.91 crore in 2014-15, Rs 24.54 crore in 2015-16, Rs 29.79 crore in 2016-17 and Rs 135.71 crore in 2017-18, he said.

The BBBP scheme was launched by the prime minister in January 2015 in Haryana's Panipat. It focuses on districts with the worst child sex ratio (CSR) as per the 2011 Census.

The key elements of the scheme include nation-wide awareness, advocacy campaign, and multi-sectoral action, Kumar said.&nbsp;

The multi-sectoral actions include effective enforcement of Pre Conception &amp; Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC&amp;PNDT) Act, pre-natal or post-natal care of a mother, to improve enrolment of girls in schools, community engagement or training or awareness generation, he said.

Since 2018-19, all 640 districts (as per census 2011) of the country have been covered under the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme, Kumar said.&nbsp;

"Out of 640 districts, 405 are covered through multi-sectoral intervention and media and advocacy while 235 districts covered through alert media and advocacy outreach," he added.&nbsp;

The Centre has spent a total of Rs 364 crore since 2014 in advertising the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign, one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet projects that aims to improve the child sex ratio, the Ministry of Women and Child Development said Friday.

The Centre has spent a total of Rs 364 crore since 2014 in advertising the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign, one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet projects that aims to improve the child sex ratio, the Ministry of Women and Child Development said Friday. The highest amount spent on advertising the campaign was Rs 155.71 crore in 2018-19 (till December 31, 2018), Minister of State for Women and Child Development Virendra Kumar said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. The government spent Rs 18.91 crore in 2014-15, Rs 24.54 crore in 2015-16, Rs 29.79 crore in 2016-17 and Rs 135.71 crore in 2017-18, he said. The BBBP scheme was launched by the prime minister in January 2015 in Haryana's Panipat. It focuses on districts with the worst child sex ratio (CSR) as per the 2011 Census. The key elements of the scheme include nation-wide awareness, advocacy campaign, and multi-sectoral action, Kumar said. The multi-sectoral actions include effective enforcement of Pre Conception & Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC&PNDT) Act, pre-natal or post-natal care of a mother, to improve enrolment of girls in schools, community engagement or training or awareness generation, he said. Since 2018-19, all 640 districts (as per census 2011) of the country have been covered under the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme, Kumar said. "Out of 640 districts, 405 are covered through multi-sectoral intervention and media and advocacy while 235 districts covered through alert media and advocacy outreach," he added.

Centre spent Rs 364 crore in advertising Beti Bachao Beti Padhao mission since 2014: WCD

The pink coloured Economic Survey document tabled by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Parliament today recommended that India must confront the societal metapreference for a son, observing that the adverse sex ratio of females to males has led to 63 million &quot;missing&quot; women.

The colour of this year&#39;s survey cover was chosen as a symbol of support for the growing movement to end violence against women, which spans continents.

Laying special emphasis on gender development, the Survey cautioned that on several indicators, notably employment, use of reversible contraception, and son preference, India has some distance to traverse despite the country&#39;s economic progress.

The Survey states that just as India has committed to moving up the ranks in Ease of Doing Business indicators, a similar commitment should be endeavoured on the gender front.

The percentage of working women has declined over time from 36 per cent being employed in 2005-06 to 24 per cent of women employed in 2015-16, pointed out the Survey.

It acknowledges that Government&#39;s &#39;Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao&#39; and &#39;Sukanya Samridhi Yojana&#39; schemes, and mandatory maternity leave rules are all steps in the right direction, pointing out that measures such as increasing maternity leave will offer support to women in the workforce.

Given these observations, the states and all stakeholders have an important role to play in increasing opportunities available for women in education and employment, it said.

As per the Survey, nearly 47 per cent of women do not use any contraception, and of those who do, less than a third use female-controlled reversible contraception.

The Survey highlighted another phenomenon of son metapreference which involves parents adopting fertility &quot;stopping rules&quot; &nbsp;having children until the desired number of sons are born.

&quot;This metapreference leads naturally to the notional category of &#39;unwanted&#39; girls which is estimated at over 21 million,&quot; says the Survey.

Consigning these odious categories to history soon should be society&#39;s objective, opines the Survey. It also provides an assessment of India&#39;s performance on gender outcomes relative to other economies.

However, the Survey noted an improvement in average levels of 12 out of 17 variables in India over time. While 62.3 per cent of women in India were involved in decisions about their own health in 2005-06, the number increased to 74.5 per cent in 2015-16.

The percentage of women who did not experience physical or emotional violence also increased from 63 per cent to 71 per cent, whereas the median age at first childbirth also increased by 1.3 years over ten years.

The Survey noted that the North-Eastern states have been consistently outperforming others on the development parameters related to women, while hinterland states are lagging behind.

However, surprisingly, some southern states such as Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu fare worse than expected given their level of development, it said.

The colour of this year's survey cover was chosen as a symbol of support for the growing movement to end violence against women, which spans continents

The pink coloured Economic Survey document tabled by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Parliament today recommended that India must confront the societal metapreference for a son, observing that the adverse sex ratio of females to males has led to 63 million "missing" women. The colour of this year's survey cover was chosen as a symbol of support for the growing movement to end violence against women, which spans continents. Laying special emphasis on gender development, the Survey cautioned that on several indicators, notably employment, use of reversible contraception, and son preference, India has some distance to traverse despite the country's economic progress. The Survey states that just as India has committed to moving up the ranks in Ease of Doing Business indicators, a similar commitment should be endeavoured on the gender front. The percentage of working women has declined over time from 36 per cent being employed in 2005-06 to 24 per cent of women employed in 2015-16, pointed out the Survey. It acknowledges that Government's 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' and 'Sukanya Samridhi Yojana' schemes, and mandatory maternity leave rules are all steps in the right direction, pointing out that measures such as increasing maternity leave will offer support to women in the workforce. Given these observations, the states and all stakeholders have an important role to play in increasing opportunities available for women in education and employment, it said. As per the Survey, nearly 47 per cent of women do not use any contraception, and of those who do, less than a third use female-controlled reversible contraception. The Survey highlighted another phenomenon of son metapreference which involves parents adopting fertility "stopping rules" having children until the desired number of sons are born. "This metapreference leads naturally to the notional category of 'unwanted' girls which is estimated at over 21 million," says the Survey. Consigning these odious categories to history soon should be society's objective, opines the Survey. It also provides an assessment of India's performance on gender outcomes relative to other economies. However, the Survey noted an improvement in average levels of 12 out of 17 variables in India over time. While 62.3 per cent of women in India were involved in decisions about their own health in 2005-06, the number increased to 74.5 per cent in 2015-16. The percentage of women who did not experience physical or emotional violence also increased from 63 per cent to 71 per cent, whereas the median age at first childbirth also increased by 1.3 years over ten years. The Survey noted that the North-Eastern states have been consistently outperforming others on the development parameters related to women, while hinterland states are lagging behind. However, surprisingly, some southern states such as Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu fare worse than expected given their level of development, it said.

Economic survey turns pink; asks Indians to confront son preference

For a long time, the only days people remembered or celebrated were holy ones &ndash; Diwali,&nbsp; Bakhrid, Christmas, and so on.&nbsp; Then came the era of honouring people one respected and cared for in a more secular mode &ndash; Mother&rsquo;s Day, Teacher&rsquo;s Day, even Children&rsquo;s Day.&nbsp; More recently the United Nations came up with a rather different agenda:&nbsp; 1975 was declared as the International Year of Women, and all member nations were asked to produce a national report on the Status of Women in their respective countries. Here the point was to recognise that some people, in this case women, suffered various disadvantages and discriminations, which nation-states needed to both acknowledge and redress.&nbsp; Subsequently, other groups have been similarly marked out by the UN system internationally, such as indigenous peoples, those discriminated by race. Even the climate has now been accorded an international day because it is being &lsquo;endangered&rsquo; by human action.

The International Year of the girl child was declared in 2000.&nbsp; Subsequently, under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2012, a Day of the Girl Child was announced on October 11th. This October we would be acknowledging the fourth such year.&nbsp; So we might want to ask why, when we already have International Women&rsquo;s Year on March 8th do we need to separately focus on the girl child?&nbsp; And what is being said and done in her name?

As it happens, since 2000 the girl child (rendered as beti in Hindi) has entered our public discourses quite prominently, including in the visual media.&nbsp; So much so, that this figure now represents gender discrimination and exploitation in India, and we think much less about the problems of an adult, let alone older women.&nbsp; One of the reasons for this is the growing concern over the adverse child sex ratio (CSR), which has been steadily declining since the 1980s. &nbsp;

The child sex ratio measures the number of girls per 1000 boys in the 0-6 age group of a given population, and is usually 950 girls in almost all parts of the world.&nbsp; However, Census 2001 showed an all India average of 927, and in 2011 the figure dropped even further to 918.&nbsp; There are huge regional variations &ndash; with the northwestern states of Punjab and Haryana having the lowest figures (in 2001 Punjab&rsquo;s CSR was 798!), but the bad news is that the rest of India is also beginning to decline.&nbsp; To cut a long story short, families are resorting to the practice of gender-biased sex selection &ndash; when a woman gets pregnant she gets an ultrasound done with the sole purpose of detecting the sex of the foetus and has an abortion if it is female. &nbsp;

Families not in dire poverty, striving to improve their economic situation by having fewer children in whom they can &lsquo;invest&rsquo;, are the most susceptible to practicing sex selection. Though many of them say that they would like to have one boy and one girl, what this actually translates into is having &lsquo;at least one son and at the most one daughter&rsquo;. Moreover, such families are quite &lsquo;modern&rsquo; in wanting their children to have sufficient care and nutrition, good education, and to successfully settle down in adulthood&mdash;a reliable job for the boy and a stable married life for the girl. But this is easier said than done and has been creating an enormous sense of burden and anxiety, especially when it comes to bringing up a daughter to adulthood in an economic and cultural milieu filled with so much uncertainty.&nbsp;

After the Census of 2001 showed widespread drops in 0-6 year child sex ratios, a number of schemes were floated, especially at the state level, or existing schemes were modified to address the low value given to the &lsquo;girl child&rsquo;.&nbsp; These took the form of conditional cash transfer schemes in states such as Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Madya Pradesh.&nbsp; As the name suggests, schemes like Ladli, Dhanalakshmi and so on were adapted to encourage families to have a daughter, and offered payments to be put in a bank account in her name at various stages from birth, immunisation, and stages of schooling, where a lump sum would finally be available for the girl once she reached 18 and had not married yet.

Two years ago, a new scheme was launched by the central government &ldquo;Beti bachao beti padhao&rdquo; with much fanfare, with an overall budget of 100 crores.&nbsp; In states like Haryana which has had a long-standing low child sex ratio, this scheme is very visible in the form of huge hoardings across towns and on main highways, on the backs of buses, and in pronouncements frequently made by state functionaries. &nbsp;

However well intentioned, this scheme represents a set back from the conditional cash transfer schemes, with all their limitations.&nbsp; This is because all the money is being utilised as a communication campaign, as though the problem were simply and primarily one of the wrong &lsquo;mindset&rsquo; of the people who are engaging in sex determination testing, or are not educating their daughters sufficiently.&nbsp; But people are not suffering from traditional mindsets in the first place. &nbsp;

What makes the situation worse is that major government schemes, such as the flagship Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) for pre-school children, and the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan which has been the backbone for implementing the Right to Education (RTE) have in these last two years witnessed major cuts in budget allocations. These are the very schemes that are crucial for ensuring basic nutrition and early child care, as well as universal schooling, and therefore critical for improving the lives of all children, girls included. &nbsp;

This brings me to my final point.&nbsp; Something very important is lost sight of in all the attention to the girl child, thought of as a young daughter, and imaged as a cute little girl, ribbons and all. Daughters today are being educated today as never before, and in higher education, the number of female students is close to parity with males.&nbsp; So let us, by all means, think especially of the girl child but let us remember that it is for both girls and&nbsp; women that genuine equality must be our goal.

Families not in dire poverty are the most susceptible to practising sex selection in India

For a long time, the only days people remembered or celebrated were holy ones – Diwali, Bakhrid, Christmas, and so on. Then came the era of honouring people one respected and cared for in a more secular mode – Mother’s Day, Teacher’s Day, even Children’s Day. More recently the United Nations came up with a rather different agenda: 1975 was declared as the International Year of Women, and all member nations were asked to produce a national report on the Status of Women in their respective countries. Here the point was to recognise that some people, in this case women, suffered various disadvantages and discriminations, which nation-states needed to both acknowledge and redress. Subsequently, other groups have been similarly marked out by the UN system internationally, such as indigenous peoples, those discriminated by race. Even the climate has now been accorded an international day because it is being ‘endangered’ by human action. The International Year of the girl child was declared in 2000. Subsequently, under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2012, a Day of the Girl Child was announced on October 11th. This October we would be acknowledging the fourth such year. So we might want to ask why, when we already have International Women’s Year on March 8th do we need to separately focus on the girl child? And what is being said and done in her name? As it happens, since 2000 the girl child (rendered as beti in Hindi) has entered our public discourses quite prominently, including in the visual media. So much so, that this figure now represents gender discrimination and exploitation in India, and we think much less about the problems of an adult, let alone older women. One of the reasons for this is the growing concern over the adverse child sex ratio (CSR), which has been steadily declining since the 1980s. The child sex ratio measures the number of girls per 1000 boys in the 0-6 age group of a given population, and is usually 950 girls in almost all parts of the world. However, Census 2001 showed an all India average of 927, and in 2011 the figure dropped even further to 918. There are huge regional variations – with the northwestern states of Punjab and Haryana having the lowest figures (in 2001 Punjab’s CSR was 798!), but the bad news is that the rest of India is also beginning to decline. To cut a long story short, families are resorting to the practice of gender-biased sex selection – when a woman gets pregnant she gets an ultrasound done with the sole purpose of detecting the sex of the foetus and has an abortion if it is female. Families not in dire poverty, striving to improve their economic situation by having fewer children in whom they can ‘invest’, are the most susceptible to practicing sex selection. Though many of them say that they would like to have one boy and one girl, what this actually translates into is having ‘at least one son and at the most one daughter’. Moreover, such families are quite ‘modern’ in wanting their children to have sufficient care and nutrition, good education, and to successfully settle down in adulthood—a reliable job for the boy and a stable married life for the girl. But this is easier said than done and has been creating an enormous sense of burden and anxiety, especially when it comes to bringing up a daughter to adulthood in an economic and cultural milieu filled with so much uncertainty. After the Census of 2001 showed widespread drops in 0-6 year child sex ratios, a number of schemes were floated, especially at the state level, or existing schemes were modified to address the low value given to the ‘girl child’. These took the form of conditional cash transfer schemes in states such as Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Madya Pradesh. As the name suggests, schemes like Ladli, Dhanalakshmi and so on were adapted to encourage families to have a daughter, and offered payments to be put in a bank account in her name at various stages from birth, immunisation, and stages of schooling, where a lump sum would finally be available for the girl once she reached 18 and had not married yet. Two years ago, a new scheme was launched by the central government “Beti bachao beti padhao” with much fanfare, with an overall budget of 100 crores. In states like Haryana which has had a long-standing low child sex ratio, this scheme is very visible in the form of huge hoardings across towns and on main highways, on the backs of buses, and in pronouncements frequently made by state functionaries. However well intentioned, this scheme represents a set back from the conditional cash transfer schemes, with all their limitations. This is because all the money is being utilised as a communication campaign, as though the problem were simply and primarily one of the wrong ‘mindset’ of the people who are engaging in sex determination testing, or are not educating their daughters sufficiently. But people are not suffering from traditional mindsets in the first place. What makes the situation worse is that major government schemes, such as the flagship Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) for pre-school children, and the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan which has been the backbone for implementing the Right to Education (RTE) have in these last two years witnessed major cuts in budget allocations. These are the very schemes that are crucial for ensuring basic nutrition and early child care, as well as universal schooling, and therefore critical for improving the lives of all children, girls included. This brings me to my final point. Something very important is lost sight of in all the attention to the girl child, thought of as a young daughter, and imaged as a cute little girl, ribbons and all. Daughters today are being educated today as never before, and in higher education, the number of female students is close to parity with males. So let us, by all means, think especially of the girl child but let us remember that it is for both girls and women that genuine equality must be our goal.

What ailing girl child in India