Cash for girl child can work,simplify schemes: study

A study commissioned on behalf of the Planning Commission went into the impact of cash incentive schemes linked to the girl child in 2010-11.

A study commissioned on behalf of the Planning Commission went into the impact of cash incentive schemes linked to the girl child in 2010-11. It reviewed 15 Central and state government schemes in various states but did not include any scheme specific to Maharashtra. The state,rocked by a series of foeticide cases,does not have a scheme of the magnitude of those covered.

The study found that such schemes can create behavioural changes among parents by providing a sense of security in the family but stressed the need to simplify the procedures involved.

Dr T V Sekher,associate professor at the International Institute of Population Scientists,who conducted the review of these conditional cash transfer schemes,said they had the potential to become an effective way of targeting resources to the poor and socially disadvantaged sections,specifically girls and women.

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To get the benefits,the requirements include registration of births,childhood immunisation,schooling,and delaying marriage beyond the age of 18. The study points out a need to simplify the eligibility criteria and procedures of registration. Also,monitoring is limited and hardly any grievance redressal mechanism is in place,says Sekher.

In some states,lack of coordination between various departments,and between departments and financial institutions,is affecting implementation,Sekher said.

The schemes reviewed included the Centres Dhan Laxmi,the Ladli schemes of Delhi,MP and Haryana and similar initiatives in Karnataka,Punjab,Andhra Pradesh,Himachal Pradesh,Bihar and Gujarat,besides Rajasthans Rajalakshmi Scheme,since discontinued. While Maharashtra did not have a scheme of this magnitude,Sekher cited a wide coverage by MP and Karnataka,and an encouraging response in Haryana and Delhi.

The study was commissioned by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for the Planning Commission.

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Maharashtras skewed sex ratio and the unearthing of foetuses have now grabbed the attention of the UNFPA,which plans a rapid assessment study of the functioning of PCPNDT district advisory committees,says Anuja Gulati,state programme coordinator of the UNFPA.

According to activist Sabu George,there were no meetings through 2006-09 of the state supervisory board appointed to implement the Act.