logo
Ad spend on Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme 2% not 80%: Centre to Rajya Sabha

Ad spend on Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme 2% not 80%: Centre to Rajya Sabha

Time of India3 days ago
The Centre on Wednesday said about 2 per cent of the total expenditure marked for the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme was used on ads over the past five years, denying the claim that the spend was 80 per cent.
Responding to a question in the
Rajya Sabha
, Minister of State for Women and Child Development
Savitri Thakur
said, "No, sir," when asked whether almost 80 per cent of the scheme's funds were used on advertisements.
Explore courses from Top Institutes in
Please select course:
Select a Course Category
Data Science
Digital Marketing
others
Design Thinking
Data Analytics
Finance
Project Management
Management
Artificial Intelligence
Degree
CXO
Leadership
Healthcare
Operations Management
Others
PGDM
Public Policy
MBA
Product Management
Data Science
Cybersecurity
Skills you'll gain:
Duration:
30 Weeks
IIM Kozhikode
SEPO - IIMK-AI for Senior Executives India
Starts on
undefined
Get Details
Skills you'll gain:
Duration:
10 Months
IIM Kozhikode
CERT-IIMK DABS India
Starts on
undefined
Get Details
Skills you'll gain:
Duration:
10 Months
E&ICT Academy, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
CERT-IITG Prof Cert in DS & BA with GenAI India
Starts on
undefined
Get Details
Skills you'll gain:
Duration:
11 Months
IIT Madras
CERT-IITM Advanced Cert Prog in AI and ML India
Starts on
undefined
Get Details
Thakur, in a written response, said a total of Rs 335.37 crore was spent under the BBBP scheme from financial year 2020-21 to 2024-25, of which only Rs 7.02 crore was earmarked for "media advocacy," which was approximately 2.09 per cent of the total expenditure.
by Taboola
by Taboola
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Promoted Links
Promoted Links
You May Like
Crossout: New Apocalyptic MMO
Crossout
Play Now
Undo
Launched in January 2015, the BBBP scheme aims to address the declining
child sex ratio
and promote girls' empowerment.
The scheme works through awareness campaigns and multi-sectoral interventions at the district level, targeting shifts in social mindset and behaviour toward the
girl child
.
Live Events
The financial breakdown presented by the government shows that the entire sum of Rs 7.02 crore spent on media and advocacy was used in 2020-21, with no expenditure under that head in the subsequent years.
The highest spending under the scheme was recorded in 2022-23, at Rs 95.96 crore, followed by Rs 88.63 crore in 2023-24.
The clarification comes in response to mounting questions around fund utilisation under the scheme, especially in light of past criticisms about heavy spending on publicity with limited on-ground outcomes.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

India's Pharma Exports Have Shot Up By 92% In Last 6 Years: Minister
India's Pharma Exports Have Shot Up By 92% In Last 6 Years: Minister

India.com

time15 minutes ago

  • India.com

India's Pharma Exports Have Shot Up By 92% In Last 6 Years: Minister

New Delhi: Various schemes being implemented by the Centre to realise the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat in the pharmaceutical sector have resulted in India's exports of drugs and pharmaceuticals increasing by 92 per cent, from Rs 1,28,028 crore in FY2018-19 to Rs 2,45,962 crore in FY2024-25, the Parliament was informed on Friday. The schemes include the Promotion of Research and Innovation in Pharma MedTech Sector (PRIP) scheme, the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Pharmaceuticals, the PLI Scheme for Bulk Drugs, Scheme for Promotion of Bulk Drug Parks, and Strengthening of Pharmaceutical Industry scheme, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Anupriya Patel told the Lok Sabha in a written reply to a question. The PRIP scheme has been launched with an outlay of Rs 5,000 crore to transform India's Pharma MedTech sector from cost- to innovation-based growth by strengthening research and promoting industry-academia linkage for research and development in priority areas in drug discovery and development and medical devices. Under this scheme, seven Centres of Excellence (CoEs) have been set up, she said. The PLI Scheme for Pharmaceuticals aims to enhance India's manufacturing capabilities by increasing investment and production in the sector and contributing to product diversification to high-value goods in the pharmaceutical sector. The minister said that the scheme has enabled enhanced investment and production in eligible products. As of March 2025, the committed investment of Rs 17,275 crore targeted over the six-year period of the scheme stands substantially exceeded with a cumulative investment of Rs 37,306 crore made by the scheme's third year, and cumulative sales of approved products of Rs 2,66,528 crore have been made, including exports of Rs 1,70,807 crore. The PLI Scheme for Bulk Drugs, which has a total budgetary outlay of Rs 6,940 crore, aims to avoid disruption in the supply of critical active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) used to make critical drugs for which there are no alternatives by reducing supply disruption risk due to excessive dependence on a single source. As of March 2025, the committed investment of Rs 3,938.5 crore under projects approved under the scheme for investment over the six-year production period of the scheme stands substantially exceeded with a cumulative investment of Rs 4,570 crore made by the scheme's third year, she further stated. The minister also highlighted that the government launched the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana scheme to make quality generic medicines available at affordable prices to all. Under the scheme, dedicated outlets known as Jan Aushadhi Kendras (JAKs) are opened across the country to provide medicines at prices that are about 50 per cent to 80 per cent lower than those of leading branded medicines in the market. Till June 6, 2025, a total of 16,912 JAKs have been opened, and on average, about 10 to 12 lakh persons visit these Kendras daily and avail of quality medicines at affordable prices. As many as 2,110 medicines and 315 surgicals, medical consumables and devices are under the scheme product basket, covering all major therapeutic groups, such as cardiovascular, anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, anti-infectives, anti-allergic and gastro-intestinal medicines and nutraceuticals. As a result of the scheme, in the last 11 years, estimated savings of about Rs 38,000 crore have accrued to citizens in comparison to the prices of branded medicines. Further, the scheme has provided self-employment to over 16,000 persons, including over 6,800 women entrepreneurs, the minister added.

32-hr debate on Operation Sindoor kicks off from Monday
32-hr debate on Operation Sindoor kicks off from Monday

New Indian Express

time15 minutes ago

  • New Indian Express

32-hr debate on Operation Sindoor kicks off from Monday

NEW DELHI: As the stand-off between Centre and the Opposition continued on the fifth day of the Monsoon session of Parliament, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Friday convened an all-party meeting where Opposition parties agreed to the agenda of taking up a special discussion on the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor on Monday in Lok Sabha and the next day in Rajya Sabha, brightening the prospect of normalcy in both Houses. Briefing the media, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the decision to start a special discussion on the 'Terrorist attack in Pahalgam and in response to that Operation Sindoor carried out by the Indian Armed Forces' was agreed to at a meeting of leaders of different parties chaired by Speaker Om Birla. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar are expected to speak in the Lok Sabha amid indications that Prime Minister Modi may use the much-anticipated debate to turn up the heat on the Opposition, which looks to corner the government over alleged intelligence failures and US President Donald Trump's claims of mediating a 'ceasefire' between India and Pakistan.

Bengal anti-rape bill sent back, says TMC
Bengal anti-rape bill sent back, says TMC

Hindustan Times

time19 minutes ago

  • Hindustan Times

Bengal anti-rape bill sent back, says TMC

The Aparajita Woman and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, 2024, passed by the state legislative assembly in September last year seeking the death penalty and other stringent punishments for rape convicts, has been returned by the Centre after review, the Trinamool Congress said on Friday. Bengal anti-rape bill sent back, says TMC 'Chief minister Mamata Banerjee is the driving force behind the Bill. While she wants stringent punishment for people involved in atrocities on women, the Bharatiya Janata Party has proved by returning the Bill that it doesn't want death penalty for such offenders,' Trinamool Congress state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said. Governor C V Ananda Bose referred the Bill to President Droupadi Murmu for review on September 6 last year, three days after the assembly unanimously passed the Bill amid a nationwide row over the rape and murder of a junior doctor inside Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9. Drafted at the behest of the chief minister, the Bill seeks changes in Sections 64, 65, 66, 70 and 71 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The Bill also proposes amendments to various sections of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. Section 64 of BNS says punishment for rape 'shall not be less than 10 years'; section 65 says punishment for raping a minor under 16 shall be rigourous imprisonment 'not less than 20 years'; section 66 says punishment for injuring a woman leading to death or persistent vegetative state shall be death or no less than 20 years of rigorous imprisonment; section 70 says punishment for gang rape shall be no less than 20 years of rigorous imprisonment; and section 71 says repeat offenders previously convicted under sections 64 or 65 or 66 or 67 shall be punished with either death penalty or imprisonment for rest of natural life. A delegation of TMC Parliament members met the President in February seeking her assent to the Bill while it was being studied by the Centre. Neither the Raj Bhawan, through which the Bill was sent back, nor West Bengal assembly speaker Biman Banerjee commented on the issue on Friday. Assembly officials aware of the details said that while returning the Bill on Thursday for further review by the state, the Centre wrote in its note that punishments proposed for some of the crimes mentioned in the document clashed with existing provisions in Sections 63, 64 and 65 of the BNS which replaced the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in 2023. The Constitution says that since criminal law falls under the Concurrent list, both the state and central legislatures have the authority to make amendments. States can enact their own laws as long as they are not in conflict with Central legislation. In cases of conflict or repugnancy, the Central law takes precedence. However, if a state law that has a conflict with a Central legislation receives the President's assent, it becomes effective within that state, the Constitution says. Union minister of state and former Bengal BJP unit president Sukanta Majumdar countered Kunal Ghosh, saying the Constitution does not empower a state government to enforce independent laws prescribing the death penalty. 'There is no such provision. The Constitution says that when a state's law confronts or contradicts a Central law then the latter always prevails. Unlike TMC, we obey the Constitution,' Majumdar said. The chief minister addressed the assembly when the Bill was tabled for discussion. 'The Bill seeks to ensure prompt investigation, prompt punishment and prompt justice,' she said during the debate. The BJP backed the Bill but leader of the opposition Suvendu Adhikari asked whether the state followed constitutional norms while framing it. In response, Banerjee said: 'Please tell the governor to sign the bill so that it can be sent to the President for assent. We will see how law is not framed even after that.' After the Bill was sent to the governor, his office sought the text of the debates. The assembly secretariat furnished the details on September 6 after chief secretary Manoj Pant met the governor.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store