Bengal's daughter
Kanyashree Prakalpa - a big step in the right direction
West Bengal Government’s flagship programme, Kanyashree Prakalpa is a conditional cash transfer scheme for the promotion of girl’s education and prevention of forced child marriages. It is a unique child sensitive social protection scheme launched in October 2013 with technical assistance from UNICEF.
The scheme includes an annual scholarship of INR ₹500 (£5) for girls between the ages of 13-18 years to continue with their studies from upper primary up to higher secondary levels, and provided they are not married off before the legal age of 18 years. A one-time grant of INR ₹25,000 (GBP £250) is also provided to the girl, once she reaches the age of 18, to pursue higher studies.
Between October 2013 and March 2015, 2.22 million girl students of the state have enrolled in the scheme with a budget of GBP £100 million. The scheme's enrolment pattern is in line with its equity focus - girls from Scheduled Castes are 23.55% of the total beneficiaries while religious minorities are 23.45%, other backward classes are 8.69%, the Scheduled Tribes are 5.71% and from general castes are 37.51%.
The Kanyashree Prakalpa is run by the Department of Women Development and Social Welfare as nodal agency with convergent support of over 13 departments of Govt. of West Bengal besides other partners including the state's leading banks. The project is becoming popular because of its 'simplicity of design, easy accessibility, targeted- communication strategy, convergent implementation and focus on raising the financial, social and self worth of the girls'.
West Bengal Govt. has been given international recognition for this scheme by DFID (Department for International Development, UK) and UNICEF in 2014. UNICEF has supported the state Govt. in the preparation of the scheme Guidelines, its implementation and monitoring framework, its communication strategy, the scheme MIS and has supported an all-district baseline survey on key indicators. It is also technically facilitating regular assessments of the scheme to strengthen its governance, implementation and coverage.
See more at: unicef.in
Bengal's daughter
Kanyashree Prakalpa - a big step in the right direction
West Bengal Government’s flagship programme, Kanyashree Prakalpa is a conditional cash transfer scheme for the promotion of girl’s education and prevention of forced child marriages. It is a unique child sensitive social protection scheme launched in October 2013 with technical assistance from UNICEF.
The scheme includes an annual scholarship of INR ₹500 (£5) for girls between the ages of 13-18 years to continue with their studies from upper primary up to higher secondary levels, and provided they are not married off before the legal age of 18 years. A one-time grant of INR ₹25,000 (GBP £250) is also provided to the girl, once she reaches the age of 18, to pursue higher studies.
Between October 2013 and March 2015, 2.22 million girl students of the state have enrolled in the scheme with a budget of GBP £100 million. The scheme's enrolment pattern is in line with its equity focus - girls from Scheduled Castes are 23.55% of the total beneficiaries while religious minorities are 23.45%, other backward classes are 8.69%, the Scheduled Tribes are 5.71% and from general castes are 37.51%.
The Kanyashree Prakalpa is run by the Department of Women Development and Social Welfare as nodal agency with convergent support of over 13 departments of Govt. of West Bengal besides other partners including the state's leading banks. The project is becoming popular because of its 'simplicity of design, easy accessibility, targeted- communication strategy, convergent implementation and focus on raising the financial, social and self worth of the girls'.
West Bengal Govt. has been given international recognition for this scheme by DFID (Department for International Development, UK) and UNICEF in 2014. UNICEF has supported the state Govt. in the preparation of the scheme Guidelines, its implementation and monitoring framework, its communication strategy, the scheme MIS and has supported an all-district baseline survey on key indicators. It is also technically facilitating regular assessments of the scheme to strengthen its governance, implementation and coverage.
See more at: unicef.in