Financing Welfare and Gender Equality

Session 4: Financing Welfare

• The session covered the need for convergence.
• Case studies were discussed.

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP)

• This program aims to celebrate and educate girls.
• It prevents gender-biased acts like sex-selective elimination.
• It ensures the survival and protection of the girl child.
• It aims to ensure the education of the girl child.
• The program was started on January 22, 2015.
• The goal is implemented in 100 gender-critical districts.
• Focus on coordinated and convergent efforts for survival, protection, and education of the girl child across India.

Constitutional Provisions: Women and Children

• Art 15: The state cannot discriminate based on religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth, etc.
• The state can make special provisions for women and children.
• Art 16: Equal opportunity for all citizens in matters of public employment.
• No citizen should be ineligible or discriminated against in employment based on religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence.
• Article 39: Equal right to livelihood, equal pay for equal work, freedom from abuse to children, freedom and dignity for everyone.
• It provides to secure just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief.
• Article 51A (e): Duty to renounce practices derogatory to women's dignity.
• This section provides a summary of various articles related to equality and rights of women and children within the constitution of India.

Level of Influence: Nudge, Incentivize, Mandate

• Nudge uses social norms, creating social trust.
• Case studies of societal influence include Aadhaar, Jan Dhan Yojana, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Swacchh Bharat, and taxes on Tobacco, Prohibition.
• This section analyses various approaches for influencing behavior based on social norms.

Triggers for BBBP

• India's declining child sex ratio.
• Decline in female workforce participation.
• India's rank in the Global Gender Gap Report decreased, indicating a worsening status of women..

Objectives of BBBP

• Celebrate girls and enable education.
• Prevent gender-biased acts.
• Ensure survival and protection of the girl child.
• Ensure education of the girl child.
• Improve SRB (Sex Ratio at Birth) in selected gender critical districts.
• Increase enrolment of girls in secondary education.

Components of BBBP

• Mass Communication (advocacy and media campaigns).
• Multi-sectoral interventions in 100 Gender Critical Districts, covering all states/UTs.
• Coordination with MoHFW & MoHRD for survival, protection, and education of the girl child.
• The District Collectors/Deputy Commissioners (DCs) lead and coordinate actions of all departments for implementation of BBBP.

Ministries Involved: Multi-sectoral Interventions

• Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD)
• Promotes registration of pregnancies in early stages.
• Undertakes training for stakeholders.
• Engages in community mobilization and sensitization.
• Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
• Monitors implementation of Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCP&DT) Act.
• Increases institutional deliveries.
• Strengthening PNDT Cells.
• Ministry of Education
• Aims to ensure universal enrollment of girls.
• Reduces girl child drop-out rates.

Implementation of BBBP

• Pan-India expansion in 640 districts, launched in March 2018.
• Social media (YouTube), communication campaigns, for equal value recognition for girls.
• Campaign called "Badlav" drawing on scriptures, cultures, and societal norms about gender equality, emphasizing change toward gender equality. Explicitly stating the new norm (gender equality) and focusing on those who adopt it.
• Continuously reinforcing the new norm of gender equality

SAMARTHYA and SAMBAL

• BBBP scheme implemented with 100% central assistance.
• 50 lakh rupees earmarked per district.
• Allocations for inter-sectoral consultation, innovation/awareness, health, education, monitoring, and evaluation.

Financial Performance

• Data on actual expenditure, funds utilized by the state/UTs for media advocacy etc. from 2014-15 to 2020-21.

Outcome: GER and CSR

• Gross Enrolment Ratio and the Drop Out rates.
• Child Sex Ratio at Birth (CSR).
• Infant Mortality Rate (IMR).
• Neonatal Mortality Rate (NNMR).
• Specific case study example in Tamil Nadu and improvement observed, and other possible factors.

CSR by States

• Data on child sex ratio by state from 2015-16 and 2020-21.

Issue of Convergence

• Focus on state level issues in terms of the efficiency of the expenditure of the funds.

Efficiency of Public Expenditure

• Underscores the lack of synergy between state and central schemes.
• Suggests potential overlap and suboptimal use of funds due to identical objectives.
• Identification of similar schemes in various states with identical objectives as the BBBP.

Lack of Synergy

• Indicates overlaps in objectives between various schemes for women, which may overlap those of other central schemes, like other BPL or SC/ST centric schemes.
• Many state schemes include objectives to do with assisting in marriage expenses.
• Other schemes promote empowerment through education.
• Additional schemes improve health and other parameters.

Sub-optimal Utilization of Public Funds

• Many states have limited resources for effective implementation.
• Variation in capacity across states hinders uniform impact.
• Typical budget often under Rs. 100 crore for poor states.
• Lack of visibility and awareness limits beneficiary participation.
• Need for better synergy between central and state schemes for improved efficiency of funds usage.

Lack of Systematic Evaluation

• Evaluation is often ad hoc and conducted without a definite procedure.
• Evaluation results are frequently not publicly released.
• Ministry use these evaluations to continue schemes and fulfill political requirements of incumbent governments.

Suggestions

• Implement Central schemes (CSS) with common objectives across states.
• Enhance resource allocation and coordination among states to enhance efficiency.
• Ensure transparent evaluation for identifying necessary changes.
• Establish a statutory council to review existing schemes.

MNREGA

• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
• Ensures 100 days of wage employment per financial year for rural households.
• Focuses on livelihood security and aims to create sustainable assets in rural areas.
• Employment provided within a 5km radius of applicants' residency.
• Minimum wages ensured, and unemployment allowance is payable if jobs not provided on time.
• Objective to enhance rural livelihoods, creating rural assets like roads, canals, protecting the environment,.
• The program has some challenges: average days of employment per household declining over time.

MNREGA - 2006-2016

• Shows the negative aspects and limitations and weaknesses of the program.
• Funds allocated to 200 districts initially, and finally expanding to cover the entire region of India.
• Creation of limited durable assets, labour-intensive, less skill-based.
• Focus on overall poverty reduction is limited, despite funds allocated.
• Issue is highly sensitive, with strong sentiments on both sides, often reducing open discussions and objectivity.

Positive Impact of MNREGA

• Increase in household income and per capita expenditure. Especially positive impacts on agricultural labour wages.
• Increased income/consumption for women and adivasis.

The Other Side of MNREGA

• Sub-optimal performance of the scheme.
• Scheme is becoming supply-driven and top-down.
• Average number of employment days per household per year declining.
• Impact on rural poverty is only modest.
• Concerns about effectively addressing poverty while lacking adequate capacity development.

What the CAG Reports Say

• Issues identified in MNREGA's planning and implementation: poor record maintenance, non-transparent recording of demand employment, lack of reliability in data etc.
• The benefits are mitigated by a decreasing employment provided per household, despite an increase in average wage and cost.
• Funds allocated are still locked in works-in-progress, which suggests poor project completion and hence poor asset creation.

No Relations with Poverty

• Limited correlation between poverty levels and MNREGA implementation.
• Many states where poverty is high didn't utilize the maximum funds.
• Funds used by few rich states, who were able to make appropriate usage of the scheme.
• Poverty advocates have claimed the scheme sustains and justifies the scheme.

MNREGA: Actually a Dole Distribution System

• Lack of correlation between MNREGA and poverty levels is noted.
• Poverty addressed through subsistence.
• The scheme, rather than empowerment, creates a sub-optimal situation.
• No genuine means for skill building, employment, and economic growth.

PMGSY

• Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.
• Aims to provide all-weather road connectivity to unconnected habitations with more than 500 people.
• All-weather road building.
• Aims to avoid overlap between government schemes.
• Data presented for PMGSY and MNREGA for the period 2019-25.

PMGSY VS MNREGA: 2024

• Comparison of program achievements data for the year 2024.