Rs 1 cr aid to Odisha’s Nayagarh under ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’

Sambad English Bureau Published On : Oct 31, 2015 at 5:08 PM Updated On : Oct 31, 2015 at 5:09 PM

Odisha Sun Times Bureau

Bhubaneswar, Oct 31:

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Odisha’s Nayagarh’s district, which has one of the lowest sex ratio in the country, will receive a central assistance of Rs 1 crore every year under the “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” campaign, this was announced in a task force meeting today.

Nayagarh district in Odisha is among 100 low CSR (Child Sex Ratio) districts in India, based on 2011 census data. The district was identified under the “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” campaign as one of the 100 critical districts in the country.

“It was decided in a task-force meeting chaired by chief secretary that the campaign will be started from November onwards. An assessment will be made in March regarding the progress of the programme. If it becomes fruitful, then the drive may be extended to other districts having lowest girl ratio”, said Rabindra Sahoo, Nayagarh, ADM.

The meeting also had a discussion on 16 other subjects including compulsory marriage registration certificate in block and panchayat levels and need for increasing awareness among woman migrating from the State.

“A discussion was held on the 16 priority actions of Odisha State Policy for Women and Girls-2014, suggestions such as universal marriage registration in the panchayat level itself have come out”, said Vishal Dev, Women and Child Welfare secretary.

Improvement in basic amenities for women on high ways, road side petrol pumps and bus stops will also be examined by the department these areas, Dev added.

While, Nayagarh district is the only one which was included in Centre’s flagship programme launched in January 2015 with an initial corpus of Rs 100 crores, Kendrapara tops the list of having lowest child sex ratio (CSR) in the state. In 2014, 719 girls were born per 1000 boys in the district, Ganjam district is a close second with 794 girls.

State Health Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak during Odisha Assembly session in November 2014 had presented an alarming picture of the lowing sex ratio in the state.

Based on report by Civil Registration System, the minister had said that there were 911 girls per 1000 boys in the state in 2010. It came down to 902 in 2011, 896 in 2012 and 886 in 2013. In 2014, it further dropped to 880.

Nayagarh