BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today launched yet another new scheme, the 'Biju Kanya Ratna Yojana' (BKRY) and inaugurated 1,000 anganwadi buildings as part of the celebration marking birth centenary of Biju Patnaik.
The scheme already announced in the state budget for 2016-17, 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.
The BKRY will create awareness on gender discrimination against girls, their health, nutrition and education, Naveen said after launching the scheme at a function in the state secretariat here.
The state government will spent `3.5 crore for the three year planned scheme which is expected to completed by March 31, 2019.
The scheme aims to provide elementary education to girls, their access to education, tracking drop out ratio of girls from schools, provision of toilets for them in every school, self-defence training, sensitising adolescent girls on sexual and reproductive health issues, training of elected representatives/grassroots functionaries as community champions to mobilise communities to improve CSR and girls' education.
Official sources hoped that implementation of the scheme will help in improving the CSR in these districts. The CSR in Odisha has declined 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.
Meanwhile, the state government has set a target to construct 24,000 new anganwadi centres during the next four years. Out of the 71,306 anganwadi centres in Odisha, only 31,175 have their own buildings. The chief minister said 15,650 anganwadi centres are under construction.
Addressing the function, minister of state for panchayati raj Arun Kumar Sahu said the state government is hopeful of achieving the target by 2018.