Protecting the survival of girl child through conditional cash transfers: A critique

Declining Child sex ratio in India has been a concern for the past several decades. The most plausible explanation for the gap in the number of girls in the 2011 census is prenatal sex determination with subsequent selective abortion of female fetuses. Sex-selection and infanticide are considered to significantly distort the naturally occurring ratio in India. Haryana, one of the richest states of India displayed the lowest Child Sex Ratio of 830 girls per 1000 boys as per the census 2011. It was the first state in the North India to start a unique incentive based scheme ‘Apni Beti Apna Dhan (My daughter, My wealth)’ in the year 1994 followed by ‘Ladli (beloved daughter)’ in 2005 to prevent decline in the sex ratio and valuing daughters. This paper presents findings of a research carried out to know whether such a scheme would yield desired results or not. The beneficiaries’ perspectives about the ‘Ladli’ scheme and the problems faced by them in accessing the benefits were enquired about. The exploratory research study indicated that the cash grant provided under the scheme was perceived as a financial assistance from the government in marrying off daughters, since it is increasingly becoming an exorbitant affair. However, valuing a girl child and her education and upbringing were still not the concerns of the parents.