"The program has helped to substantially lower the cases of feticides as well over a couple of years," said Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, talking to 15 Nepali journalists who are on a two-week-long training in India.[break]
The Delhi government claims that over 220,000 poor girl children have benefited from the scheme. Dikshit opined that Nepal too can emulate the program to empower girls.
As per the design of the scheme, the state government does not directly provide Rs 100,000 to the families. It deposits Rs 5,000 in a bank upon the birth of a girl child. And the seed money would rise to Rs 100,000 over a span of 20 years with the calculation of interest under what it calls the ´Laadli Scheme´.
"The parents can utilize the amount which the state provides 20 years after the birth of the girl child for any purpose benefitting the girl child," according to Dikshit.
The scheme has narrowed down the number of female feticides and increased the trend of registering birth of girls in Delhi, which today is the third most prosperous state in India. This has helped the state´s male-female sex ratio to improve from 840:1000 to 1004:1000. "The number of school drop-outs has also declined significantly over the period," Dikshit added.
Shedding light on the greenery developed and maintained in Delhi, Dikshit said Delhi today has 20 percent greenery compared to 2 percent of the total area of the state until a decade ago. The massive mobilization of children in tree plantation and introduction of punishment against those who cut down trees have brought about the change.
"We have provisioned a heavy penalty of Rs 28,000 (Indian currency) against anyone who cuts down a tree," said Dikshit. Under the penalty, the state government also makes the wrongdoer compulsorily plant 10 trees for him/her.
She informed that the Delhi state government is aiming to increase greenery to 25 percent of the total area in a few years. Dikshit is of the view that Kathmandu city has to introduce planned development and housing program giving priority to increased greenery and benefit from its wonderful landscape through tourism and rich culture.
"It would be a good idea to establish sister-city relation between New Delhi with Kathmandu to exchange cooperation and mutual experience in different development programs for the benefit of both cities in coming days," she added.
Keeping in view the growing number of migrants and the large number of poor in the state, Delhi has also planned to build 400,000 apartments in four to five years to accommodate the poor people.
Delhi is home to 17 million people and is one of the major markets for consumption and distribution of goods. It boasts of service sectors that contribute 85 percent to the economy. Delhi´s annual budget is around IRs 210 billion.
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