• BALRI RAKSHAK YOJNA

Balri Rakshak Yojna, a welfare scheme for the cause of the girl-child has been launched in Punjab with the following objectives:

Ø            To encourage the birth of girls to balance the skewed sex-ratio in the state as there has been a considerable decline in the child sex-ratio (0-6 years) during the 1991 to 2001 decade.

Ø            To motivate couples to adopt terminal method of sterilization in order to stabilize growth rate     of population.

Ø           To reduce Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) by reducing the   number of pregnancies.

Ø               To further bring down Total Fertility Rate from the level of 2.5 to 2.1.

The scheme has initially been introduced for a period of 5 years to gauge the response of the community and will be further extended or revised as per the

requirement of the community.

Incentives under the scheme:

An incentive of Rs.500/-PM will be given to the female child provided the parents adopt terminal method of sterilization after the birth of only one girl. An incentive of Rs.700/- (Rs.350+Rs.350) will be available for two girls provided the family adopts terminal method of sterilization after the birth of the second girl-child (only if the first child is also a girl-child). The incentive will be available till the age of 18 years unless the beneficiary becomes an income tax assessee.

Eligibility criteria:

Couples upto the age group of 45 years for husband and 40 years of the wife are eligible under the scheme.   The incentive will be available to the child/ children    those couples who have adopted terminal method of sterilization and age of the youngest child is less than 5 years.  The birth of the child must have been registered with the Appropriate Registration Authority within the stipulated period.   In case couple is blessed with twins girls during the first delivery, monthly incentive Rs.700/-(Rs.350+Rs.350 each) will be paid provided either of the partner adopts vasectomy/ tubectomy. In case of death of the only child of such family which adopts the scheme, facility of recanalisation at state expenses will be available, but the monthly payment shall stop. In the event of death of one of the partner, the surviving partner shall intimate Civil Surgeon and the Gram Panchayat/ Municipal Committee regarding the death and remarriage if planned. In case of remarriage due to death / divorce the benefit would stop. However in case of death of both the partners the surviving child / children shall keep on receiving the payment for the duration of the scheme. The state government can stop new registration under the scheme at any time without affecting the earlier beneficiaries. The payment will be credited to a joint account of the eligible couple in the post office by the Civil Surgeon.