Schoolkids' UID number to monitor 'Bhagyalakshmi'

Hejje Guruthu scheme may soon be utilised by the Dept of Women and Child

The unique 17-digit identity number provided to schoolchildren by the Department Primary and Secondary Education under Hejje Guruthu scheme may soon be utilised by the Department of Women and Child Development (DWCD) for better monitoring of its Bhagyalakshmi scheme.

Under the Bhagyalakshmi scheme, a yearly sum is deposited in the name of a girl child born into a BPL (below poverty line) family. The maturity amount will then be given to the girl child once she attains age 18. A maximum of two girls from each family are eligible for the scheme and the registration should be done one
year after the birth of the girl child.

So long as the child, registered under the scheme, is in an anganwadi centre till age six, it is easy to monitor them and their progress. However, once in school, the task of tracking and monitoring becomes more tedious, claimed a DWCD official. It is in such a situation that the department hopes to utilise the unique identity number of schoolchildren, which they will get as soon as they enter Class 1.

“Anganwadi workers have to go schools to check on the children. However, tracking every child in schools in such a manner is a very difficult process and requires a lot of effort,” said the official, on the condition of anonymity. In order to be eligible to receive the maturity amount, a girl child has to fulfil certain requirements: She should be in school till Class VIII and should not marry till she reaches age 18.

Gurneet Tej, Director, DWCD, told this newspaper that the department had to continuously monitor whether or not the child was attending regular school or in fact, if she was in school at all. “With the integration, such data would be automatically reflected and known to the department,” said Tej.    

A meeting between the education department and the DWCD to expedite on the issue was held three months back and a follow-up on the issue is on the cards, according to
Tej.

The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education introduced the Hejje Guruthu scheme last year with the aim to monitor their progress in school and to track the number of out-of-school children to check dropout rates. Almost all the government school and a few private school students in the State have been given the unique identity number, according to officials in charge of the scheme.

If all goes according to plan, even other departments like the Social Welfare Department and the Minority Affairs Department may also use the unique ID, said the officials.