Laadli Laxmi is regressive; not progressive

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The intention is good and even genuine. But, unfortunately, the scheme does not match the genuine intention.

One among the few schemes, which is close to the heart of chief minister Manohar Parrikar, is the Laadli Laxmi scheme.  He has designed the scheme in order to discourage the practice of female foeticide – killing of a girl child in the womb. It is true that the matter requires immediate remedial measures. Because the proportion of females has reduced drastically in the last 50 years. A shameful act of the so called educated society of Goa, having one of the highest literacy rates in the country.

At the time of liberation, the sex ratio was 1068 females to 1000 males. The women outnumbered men in 1960 census. Today, as per 2011 census, it has reduced to 968. The child census of 2011, between 0 to 6 years, is much more frightening. It has reduced to 919. Unfortunately, the ‘murder’ of girl child in the womb is more rampant among the so called educated class, in collision with educated doctors. It is brutal and thus more serious.

Parrikar has thus found a solution – Laadli Laxmi census. It provides Rs one lakh to every girl child for her wedding ceremony, in order to overcome her financial difficulty. He also hopes this scheme would discourage the practice of killing the girl child. Rs 150 crore has been provided in the budget, probably to cater 15,000 marriages in a year. The scheme runs across the whole Goan society, without any income limit.

The intention is good and even genuine. But, unfortunately, the scheme does not match the genuine intention.

Firstly, financing the grown up girl (above 18) has no direct connection to the female fetus in the womb. It does not benefit today’s ‘expecting’ mother. It only creates confidence in the minds of a pregnant mother that the government would also help her child when she grows up. But what is the guarantee that the scheme would continue till today’s female fetus turns adult, after 18 years? What if the government changes its mind and scraps the scheme?

There is a reason to doubt. Parrikar himself has scrapped two schemes of the past government, relating to same issues. Former chief minister Digambar Kamat, in his last budget, had floated two schemes. One was Dhanlaxmi, depositing Rs 25,000 as Fixed Deposit, the minute a girl child is born, to be withdrawn only when the girl becomes 18. She could get over Rs one lakh at the time of maturing the FD. Rather than giving Rs one lakh at the age of 18 as per Parrikar’s Laadli Laxmi scheme, Dhanlaxmi scheme was giving direct benefit to the parent giving birth to the girl child. It could thus discourage female foeticide – killing of the girl child in the womb.

If Parrikar wanted to give more financial benefit and cater it to all, he could have very well lifted the income limit and could even increase the amount to Rs one lakh. At the age of 18, the girl child could get over Rs four lakh. But, he has simply scrapped it. Instead, his new scheme gives benefit to the girls, who are already born. In no way it can reduce the amount of female foeticide, at least for the next 18 years.  Because neither parents nor the girl child in the womb benefits from it.

The second scheme of Digambar Kamat was Kanyadan, of giving Rs 25,000 at the time of the marriage of the girl. But it was limited to those having annual income of less than Rs one lakh. In fact Laadli Laxmi is an improvised version of the same scheme, where the amount is increased to Rs one lakh and there is no income limit. Around 5000 parents had already benefited from both the schemes of Digambar Kamat till date. Parrikar now plans to extend it to around 15,000 parents. But this scheme has no direct relation with unborn girl child in the womb. Nobody can even imagine whether the Laadli Laxmi scheme would exist when the girl child born today would become adult after 18 years.

In fact, in reality, both Kanyadan scheme of Digambar Kamat and Laadli Laxmi scheme of Manohar Parrikar glorify marriage of a girl. Why do we need more money to get our daughter married and not the son? What is it related to? Dowry? Gold ornaments? Or helplessness of the parent having a daughter? Isn’t it glorification of an anti-social and irrational tradition of looking at daughter’s marriage as a burden? Isn’t it the responsibility of any progressive government and any progressive society to completely eliminate such traditions that spreads gender inequality? What measures the government has thought of to eliminate such harmful traditions and establish gender equality? Nothing!!

Shankaracharya, once while in Goa, had publicly lauded the Muslim community for having not a single incident of female foeticide. The story he told was also quite interesting. The Muslim community all over the world was killing even the born girl child in a most brutal manner. But Prophet Mohammad changed the whole scenario. He told them that the door of heaven opens for the parents if a girl is born in the house. More the number of girls and more wide opens the door to heaven. Since then, birth of a girl child is a celebration in every Muslim house.

What thus Goan society needs is to change the traditional mindset of our educated lot and the perception to look at the birth of a girl child. We need to develop a society which would treat both the male and the female on par. The glorification of a costly wedding ceremony needs to be changed drastically. No girl in the society should be looked upon as a ‘burden’. The government thus needs to chalk out a roadmap – short term as well as long term, to change the whole outlook of the society. And definitely not direct or indirect glorification of girl’s marriage through such schemes like Kanyadan or Laadli Laxmi.

Will the government rethink over it?