Beti Bachao Beti Parhao: An Indian government initiative to promote gender equality

Abstract

Both in the public and private realms, Indian society is patriarchal and hierarchical, with women viewed as second-class citizens and males as superiors. Patriarchy is a social and ideological structure in which men are considered superior to women in terms of resource management and decision-making. It produces disparities and hierarchies that hurt girls and women, as well as families and societies. Women are frequently considered to be the property of their male counterparts. They are not allowed to make any decisions concerning their families or even their own life. Because of women's inferior place in society, as well as some traditional Indian customs, beliefs, culture, religious rituals, and so on, the birth of a girl child in a family is regarded as a curse. One of the main causes for their ignorance of the girl kid is the practice of dowry in India. Furthermore, traditional thinking, which views solely the male kid as the family's responsibility bearer, inhibits people from appreciating the birth of a girl child. As a result, incidents of female foeticide, infanticide, and other forms of homicide are on the rise in India, resulting in an unbalanced sex ratio or a drop in the child sex ratio. Moreover, a lack of appreciation of the importance of girl’s education is also present. One of the reasons is that society's portrayal of women's goals as good wives and mother of male progeny has led to a lack of awareness concerning girls' education. Hence, an attempt has been made in this article to analyse the Central government's scheme of "Beti Bachao Beti Padhao," which has been adopted by the government in order to ensure a balanced sex ratio and improved literacy rate of girl child in India.