New Delhi, March 22: In a shocking revelation, fake forms of ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ scheme have been perpetrated in different states across the nation by miscreants. Such cases have been reported from Tikri, Bhatti Khurd, Dakshinpuri Extension, Sangam Vihar, Sanjay Colony, Sarita Vihar and Adarsh Nagar. In a bid to put an end to this menace, the Union ministry of women and child development has approached the Delhi government and the police commissioner, asking them to take strict action against the culprits.
The ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ (Save girl child, educate girl child) is a flagship scheme of the Narendra Modi government. This social campaign aims to generate awareness and improve the efficiency of welfare services meant for girls. The scheme was launched with an initial corpus of Rs 100 crore.
To bring up the issue in limelight, Leena Nair, the Secretary of the WCD ministry has written a letter to Delhi’s chief secretary M M Kutty and top cop Amulya Patnaik sharing details of the complaints, TOI reported. It was stated in the report that Nair has sought that the police commissioner takes immediate action to investigate and register FIRs to check fraud. The WCD ministry has taken up the matter with several states from where fraud cases have surfaced. The states include Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Bihar.
The WCD ministry earlier this month had issued a statement and had warned people against fake forms being circulated in various states across the nation, but in no time, the Ministry has received similar complaints even from the national capital. When such frauds began earlier this month, the Ministry had referred the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
According to a Parliamentary panel, about 90 percent of the funds allocated last year to Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, remain unutilised. Nair, in her letter to the Delhi Police chief, mentioned that the flagship programme does not have any individual cash incentives and that it has no provision for direct cash transfer to anyone’s account. “Unfortunately, it is found that some miscreants are misusing the name of the scheme by falsely promising cash payments up to Rs 2 lakh to a girl child,” Nair was quoted by TOI. “While this was predominantly happening in Uttar Pradesh, it is now found that the menace is spreading to Delhi as well”, she further added.
The WCD ministry is planning to launch an awareness campaign through print and electronic media to warn people against these fraudsters. The Ministry in its statement said that the flagship programme ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ focuses on challenging mindsets. Its focus mainly lies on issues of women empowerment over a life cycle continuum.
