Three districts of Himachal Pradesh, Mandi, Shimla and Srimaur, received National awards from the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development for their commendable work under the Beti Bacho, Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme. The awards were given away by the Union Women and Child Development Minister, Smriti Irani, on August 7, 2019 in New Delhi.
Mandi district administration has focused on ending gender discrimination and providing better education and health facilities for women. For the second time in a year, Mandi was awarded the National Award for ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’. Earlier, in 2019, Mandi had been awarded the National Award for Effective Community Participation in Beti Bachao Beti Padhao. With the help of the Sarv Devta Samiti (meaning, ‘the caretakers of local deities’), the administration made use of the religious fervour and worship of local deities to stop people from indulging in female feticide and to end discrimination against women.
Shimla district started a special initiative ANANYA, with a focus on awareness about menstrual health and hygiene, nutrition and health monitoring of adolescent girls, and antenatal care of expectant mothers on the occasion of the National Girl Child Day on January 24. The district administration also took a resolution to end workplace sexual harassment. It involves youth participation in encouraging women towards economic independence and awards the female achievers. Under the BBBP scheme, the administration installed sanitary napkins vending machines and incinerators in eight government senior secondary school for girls in the district.
Sirmour district has been included in the top districts of the country for recording a sex ratio of 1004 girls for every 1000 boys in 2018-19 as compared to 931 in 2011 census. The district administration strictly monitors the implementation of the BBBP scheme to ensure that the girl child is not discriminated against. The administration has warned all its panchayats that if there is a violation, then the grant under the BBBP scheme would be stopped.
The BBBP scheme was started by the central government on January 22, 2015 from Panipat, Haryana. The scheme, which began with 100 districts, has now expanded to 640 districts.