The expense of marriage and dowry in India is so high that girls' children are often treated as liabilities by their own parents, relatives and society at large. Even today, in underprivileged communities, most girls' are taught household chores to become ‘good wives’ rather than being sent to school.

India also has a high drop-out rate for girl students when they hit puberty.

That deprives girls of the right to education and allows child marriage to go ahead in remote areas even when it is illegal in the country. To tackle these issues and raise awareness of the importance of educating girls, the Indian government has come up with several schemes that support parents to help educate their girl's children.

Here are 4 government schemes for the welfare for the girl child in India: 

1. Sukanaya Samridhi Yojana

Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY), was launched in 2015, in order to promote the welfare of girl child.It encourages parents to invest and build funds for the future studies and marriage expenses of the girl's children.

How does the scheme work?

For the first investment, Rs 250 rupees is to be invested and after that, the investments are to be done in the multiples of 150 rupees, which brings the annual investment to 1.5 lakhs. The process continues for the next 15 years, after which the amount matures and it is ready to be withdrawn.This means, if you invest 1.5 lakhs on a yearly basis for 15 years, you will have 43.5 lakhs compounded in your account as per the current interest rate of 7.60 per cent. The age eligibility is below 10 years of age, which is accurate as only when invested in those years, will the money mature right when the girls are ready to enter college.

Benefits to be drawn from Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana

It is important to know that this scheme is protected by a triple exemption, as it is exempted from tax under section 80C of the income tax Act. Under the triple exemption, the amount invested is tax-free, the interest earned is tax-free and the matured amount is also tax-free.

The future of a girl child is still limited to marriage in many parts of the country. This scheme not only helps parents to gather money for marriage expenses but also take care of a girl's child’s education costs, which often gets overlooked.The form for this scheme is easily available in any branch of the India Post Office or any commercial bank which is approved by the central government.

Drawbacks of the scheme

This scheme may not be too practical considering inflation. Today’s 40-50 lakhs will not have the same value in 15 years.

Also, for people living below the poverty line and for low-income groups, to have an annual sum that crosses 1.5 lakh rupees is a distant story.

For low-income groups, parents of girls are already worried about a lot of things. Depending on their earnings, sending a girl's child off to work (as domestic help) seems more feasible for their parents than to send them to school.

2. Balika Samridhi Yojana

Balika Samriddhi Yojana is another central government scheme to support girls in financially vulnerable sections of society. This scheme ensures the enrolment and retention of girl child in primary and secondary schools.

It aims at the prosperity of a girl's child and provides them with a better quality education.

To avail of the benefits of Balika Samriddhi Yojana, the girl's child should belong to a family below the poverty line (BPL).

Benefits of Balika Samriddhi Yojana

One of the motives of the scheme is to prevent a girl's infanticide and break the stigma relating to a girl's child’s birth. The child sex ratio (CSR), as per the 2011 census, is 940 females to 1000 males. But in some states of India, the situation is more gruesome.

Hence, to create awareness and remove all the stigma surrounding the birth of a girl, schemes like these are needed. When girls being born aren’t treated with happiness, such schemes are a way to motivate those who have daughters and also help the girls to be educated and stand on their own feet.

This scheme also aims at ensuring that no girl's child becomes a victim of child marriage and attains the legal age of marriage before she is married off.

This scheme looks after every girl child registered under BSY, and helps them be trained in income-generating activities that would make them financially independent and hence, can lead their own life by breaking all the stereotypes around them.

Drawbacks of the scheme

The problem with this scheme is that it only includes girls children below the poverty line. The scheme will not cover daughters in those families right above the poverty line who are also living in trying circumstances.The scheme needs to be a little more inclusive as girls' child infanticides prevail in almost every section of society, irrespective of income size.

3. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao

Among all the other girl's child welfare schemes, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao is the most popular.

Many schools and universities endorse this scheme under different means.

Some universities, in order to support the enrolment of students for higher studies, apply fee concessions on the registration and admission of female students.

This scheme celebrates girl children, literally translating to “Save the Girl Child, Educate the Girl child”. It believes in women empowerment and creating an inclusive ecosystem for the same.This scheme is to promote girls' children’s safety before and after they are born. The selective gender-based abortions somehow prevail in many parts of India and are only worsening as shown in the 2011 Census. With the help of technology, a family of a pregnant woman manage to learn the sex of the foetus and the female foetus is aborted.

Benefits of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme

This scheme makes sure that girls are able to inherit the family’s property and also ensures they are sent to school and have access to better quality education.

It also aims at blocking all the discrimination and biases that girls have to go through and offers inclusive benefits.

In short, this scheme ensures that women have a safe atmosphere to survive and thrive.

Drawbacks of the scheme

There are three separate ministries involved in the scheme -- the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Often, scheme applications face clearance issues, lack of cohesiveness between the three ministries, or encounter loopholes in the civic administration.

No matter how flowery this scheme looks- we still need on-ground monitoring to be tight.

4. ladli Scheme

This scheme was launched by the Haryana government under the state’s Ministry of Child and Women's Development. Haryana is predominantly a male-dominated state and the birth of a girl is treated as a bad omen in many areas. Hence, this scheme was launched to break the stigma relating to the birth of a girl.

This scheme means spreading awareness about protecting girls to improve the sex ratio of the state and good education facilities for females across the state.

How does the Ladli Scheme work?

This scheme could be availed by the people of Haryana or if one of the parents are from Haryana. One has to show the domicile certificate.

The one way to receive the benefit of this scheme is the registration of the mother and the child at the nearest Aganwadi centre. The form for the Ladli Scheme has to be duly filled out. The sum covered under this scheme is 5000 per year for five years (per family).

This scheme benefits parents having two girls in the family. The amount is accumulated in the Kisan Vikas Patra and after the girl attains the age of 18, the money can be withdrawn. A Kisan Vikas Patra account is opened in the mother’s name.

In case of the birth of a second child, the money is immediately given to the parents in two instalments to promote the birth of a girl child and to ensure their education goes undisturbed (in future).

Benefits of Ladli Scheme

This scheme will help curb female infanticide, promote girl childbirth and ensure better quality education. As this scheme aims to promote equality, it covers all sections of people, irrespective of their caste, creed, colour, and religion. It celebrates girl childbirth across all the states by eliminating biases. It focuses on the overall socio-economic welfare of the girl's child.

Drawbacks of the scheme

This scheme only covers families having two girls, but not ones who have three or more. As in states like Haryana, even if they skip the infanticide process, the quest for at least one boy often leads to having children of a girl. This further curtails the rights of those girls' children who are soon forced into child marriage to take their expenses off the hands of the parents.

Source and Credit : India Today