Better late than never, the Karnataka Government has launched Bhagyalakshmi, an insurance scheme for girl babies born into Below Poverty Line (BPL) families after March 31, 2006. Girl babies will be issued LIC bonds which may be redeemed with interest by the insured when 18 years old. Adequate built-in safeguards have been added to prevent misuse and make the scheme attractive. The rules stipulate that either parent of the insured should have undergone terminal family planning operation and only two girls in a family of not more than three children will be insured; the insured is enrolled in an anganwadi from six months to six years and enrolled into a government-recognised school.

The clause stating that the insured should not be married until 18 years should go a long way in  preventing child marriages. Eligibility for annual scholarship and medical benefit for a sum of Rs 25,000 should encourage education of the girl child and ensure medical benefits for her, which otherwise are usually ignored by those around her.  Apart from enlisting 1.5 lakh girl children born after the cut-off date as beneficiaries, as a confidence-building step the government has made monetary allocation for the entire 2007-08 financial year. Part of the insured amount has been remitted to LIC already.

Many laws have been passed in the country in the past to protect and nurture girl children. But they are still victims of bias, as seen by the continuing prevalence of practices like female foeticide and infanticide, child labour and trafficking. The lives of girl children, especially those from poor, lower caste status and with deformities are particularly difficult. Karnataka has the dubious distinction of being a “soft state” for child trafficking. The practice is still  there in the northern districts where the Devadasi system is prevalent despite a ban. The Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994 has failed to curb female foeticide as is evident from the sex ratio imbalance of 966 girls for 1000 boys. The education policy makes a case for gender sensitivity but gender bias continues in our curriculum. The state government has therefore made a good beginning to check gender disparity. The proof, of course, of its good intentions will come in its smooth implementation of the Bhagyalakshmi scheme.