24L ghost beneficiaries: Scheme for girl dropouts stopped in 2022
The Ministry of Women and Child Development reportedly discontinued the Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG) in March last year after detecting around 24 lakh ghost beneficiaries. Sources from the ministry said the scheme was stopped after realizing that it was not yielding results. The scheme was aimed at providing ample nutrition to girls aged 11-14 years who had dropped out of school.
Why does this story matter?
Around the time the scheme was reportedly stopped, a report by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) highlighted an alarming rise in the number of girls dropping out of school. However, months later, Minister of State (MoS) for Education, Annapurna Devi stated that the dropout rate for girls had gone down by nearly 5% in four years and attributed the success to government schemes.
Mismatch first detected in 2019
The ministry first detected the glaring gap between the numbers of adolescent girls and the data of dropouts in 2019, following which it asked the states to produce documentary proof of registered beneficiaries. On checking, it was found that out of 25 lakh beneficiaries, only six lakh girls had valid documents. Following this, Aadhaar seeding was ordered for the rest of the beneficiaries.
After Aadhaar seeding, only 1L found to be genuine
After Aadhaar seeding in 2022, only one lakh beneficiaries turned out to be genuine and were later enrolled in mainstream schools. Notably, the scheme was earlier named the Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls. Under this scheme, girl dropouts were provided supplementary nutrition, similar to pregnant women, in the form of hot-cooked meals or take-home rations.
Child marriage, household work prime reasons for dropout
Meanwhile, the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) from 2019-21 showed that early marriages and household work were the primary reasons for girls dropping out of school. Despite child marriage being illegal, around 7% of girls quit school because they were married off earlier. Around 13% of girls dropped out because of household chores. The dropout rate among girls was higher than that of boys.
