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In a positive trend towards gender equality, the Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) in India improved by 16 points during the last six years from 918 in 2014-15 to 934 in 2019-20, according to the data released by the union health ministry on Sunday.
As India celebrated National Girl Child Day on 24th January, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said that promising trends of improvement in SRB have been observed at National level. The Gross Enrolment Ratio of girls in the schools at secondary level also improved from 77.45 to 81.32 in last six years, he said.
According to the Health Management Information Systems (HMIS) data under the union health ministry, out of 640 districts covered under Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) Scheme, launched on 22nd January, 2015, 422 districts have shown improvement in SRB from 2014-15 to 2018-2019.
Some Districts which had very low SRB in 2014-15 have shown huge improvement after implementation of the Scheme such as Mau (Uttar Pradesh) from 694 (2014-15) to 951 (2019-20), Karnal (Haryana) from 758 (2014-15) to 898 (2019-20), Mahendergarh (Haryana) from 791 (2014-15) to 919 (2019-20), Rewari (Haryana) from 803 (2014-15) to 924 (2019-20), and Patiala (Punjab) from 847 (2014-15) to 933 (2019-20), the health ministry data revealed.
Similarly, the percentage of 1st Trimester Antenatal Care (ANC) Registration has shown an improving trend from 61% in 2014-15 to 71% in 2019-20, the health ministry data said adding that the percentage of Institutional Deliveries has shown an improving trend from 87% in 2014-15 to 94% in 2019-20.
In a positive development, the government said that the scheme Percentage of schools with functional separate toilets for girls has shown improvement from 92.1% in 2014-15 to 95.1% in 2018-19, as per the provisional data available with the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE).
“On National Girl Child Day, we salute our #DeshKiBeti and the accomplishments in various fields. The Central Government has undertaken many initiatives that focus on empowering the girl child, including access to education, better healthcare and improving gender sensitivity,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet.
Showcasing the improvement on status, skilling and involvement of women in various sectors, the Ministry of Women and Child Development on Sunday said that out of 33 National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs) under the Ministry of Skill Development, 19 NSTIs are providing skill training exclusively for women. In NSTIs 3,400seats have been sanctioned under Craftsman Training Scheme and 2,225 seats have been sanctioned under Crafts Instructor Training Scheme (CITS). 421 women have been trained in Advanced Diploma in IT Networking and Cloud Computing, the ministry said.
In the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), the percentage of female apprentices has increased from 4% in August, 2016 to 12% in December, 2020. The female enrolment percentage in STRIVE-assisted ITIs has increased from 15.5% to 19.1%.
“Out of 23 lakh RPL certifications awarded during 2019-20 under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), over 5 lakhs were women. 271 Jan Shikshan Sansthans (JSS) have been sanctioned out of which 227 JSSs are active in States/UTs. Out of 4 lakh beneficiaries (per annum) 85% are women,” the WCD ministry said.
The BBBP Scheme was launched by the Prime Minister on 22nd January, 2015 at Panipat in Haryana with the objective of bringing behavioural change in the society towards birth and rights of a girl child, has resulted in increased awareness and sensitization of the masses regarding prevalence of gender bias and role of community in eradicating it.
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