MP rejects Renuka proposal on orphanages

The Madhya Pradesh government has written a letter to Union Minister for Women and Child Development Renuka Chowdhary saying that the Centre8217;s proposal to set up orphanages for unwanted babies would have disastrous consequences for the girl child.

The Madhya Pradesh government has written a letter to Union Minister for Women and Child Development Renuka Chowdhary saying that the Centre8217;s proposal to set up orphanages for unwanted babies would have disastrous consequences for the girl child.

8220;The girl child will be looked upon with contempt as it would be easy for people to abandon her. Not only will the number of orphans go up, but they will also face a host of social complications when they grow up,8221; state Women and Child Development Minister Kusum Mehdele said.

Instead, Mehdele has advised the Centre to copy the 8216;Ladli Laxmi8217; scheme which they are planning to implement from April.

The scheme promises Rs 1 lakh for girls when they turn 21. The government will deposit a fixed amount in the bank for girl children born on and after January 1, 2006.

For this, the state government has made a provision of Rs 24 crore in the budget for 2007-2008.

The government said in the first year itself as many as 37,000 girls would benefit from the ambitious scheme that seeks to reduce incidence of child marriages, improve levels of education and health, and to correct gender imbalance.

Meanwhile, on the occasion of International Women8217;s Day, the state government introduced a slew of schemes as part of its proposed policy 2007-2011 for women.

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Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the government would reward bodies of local governance who correct gender imbalance.

The government announced that 50 per cent posts of contractual teachers will be reserved for women and they also get atleast 10 per cent employment in the state police force.

Madhya Pradesh, which introduced gender budgeting for women from this year, has already announced a cash prize of Rs 10,000 to those who will tip the government about female foeticide.