Discuss the effectiveness of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme in addressing India's declining Child Sex Ratio. Suggest measures to strengthen its implementation.

Q. Discuss the effectiveness of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme in addressing India's declining Child Sex Ratio. Suggest measures to strengthen its implementation. (15 marks, 250-350 words)

Launched on 22 January 2015 at Panipat, Haryana, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) responds to the falling Child Sex Ratio recorded in Census 2011 through a convergence model of the Ministries of Women & Child Development, Education, and Health & Family Welfare [1]. A decade on, its record is one of visible awareness gains but uneven ground-level delivery.

Achievements in addressing declining CSR - Measurable ratio improvement: national Sex Ratio at Birth rose from 918 (2014-15) to 930 (2023-24) [2]. - Convergent life-cycle approach: pre-birth deterrence, survival and protection, then schooling — institutional deliveries rose from 61% to 97.3% and first-trimester ANC registration from 61% to 80.5% [2]. - Education linkage: Kanya Shiksha Pravesh Utsav re-enrolled over one lakh out-of-school girls; girls' secondary GER rose to 78% [2]. - Scale and stability: now a 100% centrally funded scheme covering all districts under the SAMBAL vertical of Mission Shakti, with graded district grants tied to SRB performance [3].

Limitations - Advocacy-heavy spending: the Committee on Empowerment of Women (17th Lok Sabha) found the bulk of released funds absorbed by media advocacy rather than health and education interventions [4]. - Weak absorption and data: states utilised only a small share of released funds, with inadequate ministry tracking of state-wise expenditure [4]. - Behavioural stickiness: son preference persists; BBBP is an awareness scheme, and enforcement rests on the PC&PNDT Act, 1994, whose conviction record remains thin.

Way forward: rebalance outlays from publicity toward sectoral spending on girls' health and retention; strengthen district-level BBBP action plans using civil registration and SRB data; tighten PC&PNDT enforcement through decoy operations and clinic audits; and link outcomes to third-party evaluation.

BBBP has succeeded in making the girl child a subject of public conversation and has nudged the SRB upward. Converting that mindset shift into durable demographic gains now needs expenditure discipline and enforcement rigour — advancing the equality promise of Articles 14 and 15 and SDG-5.

(~330 words)

Sources: 1. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme — PIB — launch date, Panipat, three-ministry convergence 2. MWCD to celebrate 10th anniversary of BBBP — PIB — SRB 918→930, institutional deliveries, ANC, Kanya Shiksha Pravesh Utsav, girls' GER 3. BBBP is a centrally sponsored scheme with 100% Central funding under Sambal vertical of Mission Shakti — PIB — funding pattern, all-district coverage, SRB-graded district grants 4. Committee on Empowerment of Women (2021-22), 6th Report, 17th Lok Sabha — media-advocacy share of funds, low state utilisation, weak expenditure data