Question

Bholi’s story must have moved you. Do you think girl children are not treated at par with boys? You are aware that the government has introduced a scheme to save the girl child as the sex ratio is declining. The scheme is called Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Save the Girl Child. Read about the scheme and design a poster in groups of four and display on the school notice board.

Answer 1

Gender Inequality and the Need for Empowerment

It is an undeniable fact that girls are not always treated equally with boys, even though society has come a long way. Deep-seated patriarchal ideas still exist in many communities, which leads to clear discrimination in areas like healthcare, nutrition, and education. Girls are often taught to put household duties first, while boys are often told to dream big and go after careers. The unequal number of boys to girls in children in many areas is another sign of this inequality. This is a sad result of historically preferring sons, which has led to practices like killing female babies during birth. As the story of Bholi shows, denying a girl the chance to learn and grow hurts her self-esteem and limits her abilities. This shows that society loses half of its population when it denies girls the chance to learn and grow.

The Indian government started the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (Save the Girl Child, Educate the Girl Child) scheme in 2015 to deal with these systemic problems. This project is an important policy change meant to change how society thinks about girl children. Its main goals are to stop sex-selective elimination based on gender, to protect and ensure the survival of girl children, and to encourage their education and participation in all areas of life. The plan aims to break down cultural barriers that see daughters as a burden by focusing on advocacy, community organising, and making sure that girls are enrolled and stay in school.

In the end, policy needs to change into practice in order to reach gender equality. For this change to happen, education is the most important thing. It gives girls the tools they need to become independent, sure of themselves, and able to question the status quo. Not only is it important for the girl child, but also for the moral and economic progress of the whole country, programs like Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao must be supported. When we treat daughters like daughters and invest in their health, education, and goals, we make society not only more fair but also much wealthier.