BHUBANESWAR: Even as the State Government launched the Biju Kanya Ratna Yojana (BKRY) with much fanfare in three districts, financial provision made for the scheme shows that beneficiaries will not directly benefit from it.
The scheme launched by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on September 3 will be implemented in Ganjam, Dhenkanal and Angul districts in the first phase. The three districts have been selected on the basis of child sex ratio (CSR) which is low compared to other districts in Odisha.
However, provision of ` two crore made for the scheme in 2016-17 would be mainly spent in providing training to officials, coordination among different departments and other related matters. Out of the total provision for the scheme, `20 lakh will be spent at the State-level while `eight lakh has been earmarked for training of officials and skill development, ` two lakh for the innovative scheme and ` seven lakh for spreading information about it. Besides, `two lakh has been kept aside for the flexi-fund at the State-level.
At the district-level, ` four lakh will be spent for inter-departmental coordination while `15 lakh has been provided for training and skill development of Government employees and others who will implement the scheme. Official sources maintained that ` six lakh has been kept for flexi-fund in three districts while `20 lakh has been earmarked for the innovative scheme.
While `1.8 crore will be spent at the district-level for training and other related exercises, at the State-level, `20 lakh will be spent on these matters.
Launching the scheme, the Chief Minister had announced that the State Government will provide `3.5 crore for the three-year planned scheme which is expected to be completed by March 31, 2019.
The scheme aims to provide elementary education to girls, their access to education, track drop out ratio, toilets in every school, self-defence training, sensitising adolescent girls on sexual and reproductive health issues, training of elected representatives and grassroots functionaries as community champions to mobilise communities to improve CSR and girls's education.
The CSR in Odisha has come down from 967 in 1991 Census to 941 in 2011 Census. Nayagarh, Dhenkanal, Angul and Ganjam districts have the lowest sex ratio of 855, 877, 889 and 908 respectively. As Nayagarh is covered under 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' scheme, the BKRY will be implemented in three other districts.