Lok Sabha Question No. 1182 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-02-09
Subject: National Girl Child Day
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo, Jayanta Kumar Roy, Dimple Yadav

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1182

TO BE ANSWERED ON 09.02.2024

## NATIONAL GIRL CHILD DAY

1182. SHRIMATI SANGEETA KUMARI SINGH DEO: DR. JAYANTA KUMAR ROY: SHRIMATI DIMPLE YADAV:

Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government celebrates National Girl Child Day to create awareness about the rights of the girl child, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government is also implementing the National Scheme of Incentive to Girls for Secondary Education, if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government is implementing scholarship schemes for Single  Girl Child etc.;
- (d) if so, the details thereof including features, amount, numbers of  beneficiaries so far, State-wise;
- (e) whether the amount and number of scholarships under these schemes are not sufficient and there is need for increasing it; and
- (f) if so, the other steps being taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

- (a)      24 th   January  is  celebrated  as  National  Girl  Child  Day  every  year  by  the Government  across  the  country  involving  activities  denoting  the  importance  of  girl child.  National Girl Child Day is celebrated to bring to centre stage the important issues faced  by  the  girl  child  and  to  spread  awareness  about  gender  issues  amongst  the various sections of society.  The objective is to undertake widespread sensitization on important issues pertaining to survival, welfare, development and empowerment of the girl  child.   Various  activities,  such  as  community  sensitization/mobilization  programs through conferences / webinars / interaction on gender sensitive issues, felicitation of performing  districts  under  BBBP,  plantation  drives,  wall  painting  competitions,  quiz competitions, acknowledging and celebrating local champions at the district in the fields of education, sports, social welfare etc., are organized each year on the occasion of National Girl Child Day.
- (b) The National Scheme of Incentive to Girls for Secondary Education Scheme has been discontinued with effect from the year 2018-19 due to inherent issues in the design and implementation of the scheme.

(c)  to  (f)         The  National  Scholarships  Portal  (NSP)  is  maintained  by  the  National Informatics Centre (NIC) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeITY).  The  NSP  provides  a  common  portal  for  various  scholarships  schemes  of different Ministries, Departments and Autonomous Bodies of the Central Government and State Governments who have on boarded their schemes on this portal. It avoids duplication in processing and sends the scholarships through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)  mode  to  the  recipients  of  scholarships.  These  details  can  be  accessed  at https://nsp.gov.in/dashboard/.  As  per  information  provided  by  the  NIC  of  NSP,  the central government schemes and state-wise details of scholarships awarded through the NSP during the last three years may also be accessed at https://www.education.gov.in/parl\_ques.

The  Government  has  implemented  various  schemes  for  the  welfare  and upliftment    of every strata, including minorities, especially the economically weaker and lesser  privileged  sections  of  the  society,  through  various  schemes  of  different Ministries  such  as  Ministry  of  Social  Justice  and  Empowerment  has  Pre-Matric scholarships  scheme for Scheduled castes/OBC students and others , Post Matric scholarship for SC students, scholarships for Higher Education for Young Achievers scheme (SHREYAS) OBC and others(2021-22 to 2025-26) and scholarship for PM Cares children.

The Government is implementing various scholarship schemes for providing financial assistance to all categories of students including Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST).The details of these schemes including the number of slots, assistance offered and eligibility criteria are available in the following websites:

| Sl. No.   | Ministry/ Department                     | Website links                                                     |
|-----------|------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1.        | Department of Higher Education           | https://www.education.gov.in/pm-usp- scholarships- education-loan |
| 2.        | University Grants Commission             | https://www.ugc.ac.in/page/scholarships-and- fellowships.aspx     |
| 3.        | All India Council for                    | https://www.aicte- india.org/bureaus/rifd/Scholarship-            |
|           | Technical Education                      | Schemes                                                           |
| 4.        | Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment | https://socialjustice.gov.in/scheme-cat                           |
| 5.        | Ministry of Tribal Affairs               | https://tribal.nic.in/ScholarshiP.aspx                            |

Ministry  of  Tribal  Affairs  (MoTA)  provides  post  matric  scholarship  to  eligible Scheduled Tribe students for pursuing vocational courses like ITI and 3-year Diploma courses in Polytechnic institutes.

Further,  under  the  Pradhan  Mantri  Uchchatar  Shiksha  Protsahan  (PM-USP) Special  Scholarship  Scheme  for  Jammu  &  Kashmir  and  Ladakh  of  the  Ministry  of

Education,  scholarship  is  provided  to  the  students  including  SC  and  ST,  having domicile of UT of J&K and Ladakh and pursuing Graduation after completion of 12 th class or Diploma in Engineering from Polytechnic Institutes recognized by Directorate of Technical Education, J&K and Ladakh.

Moreover, in the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE), in order  to  increase  and  encourage  women  participation  in  vocational  skilling,  the Directorate General of Training (DGT) has waived off tuition and exam fee for women candidates  who  undergo  training  under  Craft  Instructor  Training  Scheme  (CITS)  / Craftsmen Training Scheme (CTS) in National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs) from session 2023-24 onwards.

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