Rahul Gandhi takes dig at govt over Parliament panel report on 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' scheme

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday took a dig at the Centre over a parliamentary panel suggesting that the government should reconsider spending on advertisements under the 'Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao' scheme, saying the BJP's real slogan is "chhavi bachao, photo chhapao".

The Parliamentary Committee on Empowerment of Women has flagged poor utilisation of funds by states under the 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' scheme and suggested that the government needs to focus more on education and health than on advertising the scheme.

Tagging a media report on the panel's report tabled in Parliament, Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi, "BJP ka asli naara -- chhavi bachao, photo chhapao (BJP's real slogan -- save image, get photos printed).

"The committee finds that out of a total of Rs 446.72 crore released during the period 2016-2019, a whopping 78.91 per cent was spent only on media advocacy. Though the committee understands the necessity to undertake media campaign to spread the message of 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' among the people, they feel that it is equally important to balance the objectives of the scheme," the panel said.

Noting that over the last six years, through focused advocacy, BBBP has been able to capture the attention of the political leadership and national consciousness towards valuing the girl child, the report said now the scheme should focus on other verticals by making ample financial provisions to help achieve measurable outcomes related to education and health envisaged under the scheme.

"Since BBBP is one of the most important schemes of the government to improve child sex ratio in backward regions and ensure education of the girl children, the committee recommends that the government should, hereafter, reconsider spending on advertisements under the 'Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao' scheme and should focus on planned expenditure allocation for sectoral interventions in education and health," it added.