Bold moves

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Chief Minister, at the launch of the Ladli Laxmi Yojana at Goharganj in Raisen district on May 2, 2007.-A.M. FARUQUI

The State government has made significant strides in developing the social sector with peoples participation.

The Madhya Pradesh government has taken up a number of initiatives for social empowerment. It has introduced programmes to improve the public health infrastructure and the literacy rate, provide benefits to the girl child, people belonging to the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (S.C./S.T.) and living below the poverty line and farm labourers, and ensure the welfare of women and children.

In the field of health, top priority has been accorded to provide nutritious food for women and children. A sum of Rs.3,000 crore was allocated in 2007 to provide supplementary nutrition at anganwadis to undernourished women and children. In the 2008 Budget, a sum of Rs.6,000 crore has been allotted for women and child development. Of this, almost 50 per cent is spent on providing supplementary nutrition. The government has also taken steps to improve public health infrastructure, which has been woefully inadequate. The budget for medical services has been enhanced by over 42 per cent in order to equip sub-health centres in far-off areas with adequate paramedical staff.

Doctors are appointed on a contract basis to serve in rural areas. Besides making budgetary provision for setting up new medical colleges, the government has upgraded primary health centres into community hospitals and has constructed buildings for 10 district hospitals. Expansion of the Deendayal Antyodaya Upchar Yojana, a programme launched in 2004 to provide free medical services to S.C./S.T. people living below the poverty line (BPL), financial aid to expectant mothers for institutional delivery and the launch of mobile health care units in the areas densely populated by tribal communities are some of the other measures taken in this sector.

As a result of the governments emphasis on better health services, the State has achieved a number of milestones in the sector. For instance, maternal mortality rate, which was known to be high in the State, has come down to 379 per lakh live births from 498. Similarly, infant mortality, which was causing concern, has come down to 70 from 82 (per 1,000 live births). In August 2005, the government launched a cash incentive scheme to encourage women to go to hospitals for child delivery. The success of this scheme was evident from the fact that a record four lakh women availed themselves of the incentive. The percentage of delivery in hospitals has increased to 70 from 26.

Over three lakh people have benefited from the Deendayal Antyodaya Upchar Yojana. In order to provide quality medical education, the government has increased financial assistance to all the five medical colleges in the State. The funds will be used to recruit personnel and provide better infrastructure.

The government has introduced an innovative scheme, Ladli Laxmi Yojana, with a view to create positive thinking about the girl child among the masses. The government-sponsored insurance scheme envisages giving a sum of Rs.1 lakh to the girl child once she attains the age of 21, provided she is not married off before the legal age of marriage. The yojana basically aims at preventing child marriages, improving girls education and improving their health conditions.

In order to promote education among S.C./S.T. girls, a literacy encouragement scheme is being implemented with an objective to check their dropout rate. Under the scheme, S.C./S.T. girl students seeking admission to classes IX and XI would be given an incentive of Rs.1,000 and Rs.2,000 for the respective classes, in two equal instalments in the month of July and January.

The State has over 185 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas where over 10,000 girl students study. More than 254 hostels have been set up, benefiting about 12,566 girl students. Further, a number of innovative schemes such as the distribution of free cycles and uniforms to school-going girls in rural areas are in operation.

The level of literacy in Madhya Pradesh, at 64.11 per cent (as per Census 2001), is slightly above the national average of 64.8 per cent. While female literacy has improved considerably, there continues to be a wide disparity in the male-female literacy ratio. The State government has taken some crucial steps to improve the situation, including the introduction of the concept of guest teachers in order to tide over the problem of teacher shortage in schools.

There would be a panel of five guest teachers preferably retired teachers in every institution in the immediate and temporary categories. The panel would be valid only for that particular academic session.

The implementation of the midday meals scheme has ensured good attendance in primary schools. The government is serious about its commitment to construct buildings for all primary schools. It has taken up construction of residential schools and hostels, particularly in tribal areas, in order to ensure access to better education facilities. The success of the government in taking children to schools is reflected in the figures. In 2006-07, over 2.97 lakh children in the 5-14 age group were out of school. Of this, 1.49 lakh were boys. The figure has now come down to 1.81 lakh, of which 0.92 lakh are boys.

The Mukhya Mantri Annapurna Yojana, which covers BPL families, has so far given relief to over 2.68 crore poor people in the State. The scheme was launched on April 1 with a provision to spend Rs.255 crore. Blue card holders (BPL families) get wheat at the rate of Rs.3 a kg and rice at Rs.4.50 a kg from government fair price shops. At least 20 kg of foodgrains are provided every month to BPL families under the scheme launched at the initiative of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Before the scheme was introduced, wheat and rice were supplied at the rate of Rs.5 and Rs.6.50 a kg.

The success of the State governments initiatives in the social sector can be gauged from the fact that the United Nations Millennium Campaign has felicitated the Chief Minister on his achievements. The Global Director of the U.N. Millennium Campaign, Salil Shetty, presented to him a certificate issued by the Guinness Book of World Records declaring Madhya Pradesh the first State in the world to have maximum public participation in the social sector for the second consecutive year. Chouhan said on the occasion that the State had made giant strides in achieving the targets of the Millennium Campaign through peoples participation. He said the State government, with peoples cooperation, succeeded in spreading awareness.

The other programmes that have gone a long way in supporting poor children and women include the Jalabhishek Abhiyan, the Mukhya Mantri Kanyadan Yojana, the Gaon Ki Beti Yojana and the Haryali Mahotsava.

In order to benefit landless farm workers, the Chief Minister has introduced the Mukhya Mantri Mazdoor Suraksha Yojana. Under this scheme, maternity leave, scholarships to wards, and marriage and medical assistance are extended to farm workers. Ten lakh eligible beneficiaries have been given photo identity cards under this scheme.

A total of 30 lakh landless farm workers are expected to benefit from the scheme. The benefits include payment of maternity expenses and six weeks wages, payment of two weeks wages under paternity leave, scholarship for students from Class I to postgraduation, cash prize for students securing first division in Class V onwards and Rs.6,000 to girls under the marriage assistance scheme and other benefits under the group insurance scheme.