Save girl child campaign failed in Kashmir, Bihar, says Maneka Gandhi

Maneka Gandhi said the programme received "stupendous success" in most states.

Panaji, April 7: The campaign to save girl child has failed in Jammu and Kashmir as "bringing daughters into the world" is the last thing on the minds of people living in conflict-prone areas, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi said on Friday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flagship 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' programme also came a cropper in Bihar due to local administrative issues, she said at an advertising festival event in Panaji.

"In Bihar, (it failed) because their District Magistrates got posted every three months -- so nobody was willing to take ownership of the campaign; as a result, the campaign did not happen," she said.

Gandhi said the programme received "stupendous success" in most states. The programme worked very well -- thanks to multi-pronged initiatives -- in 100 districts with poorest sex ratio.

"We failed in a few districts. We did not get 100 per cent success. But the ones we failed in were for different reasons. We failed in Kashmir. It (programme) didn't make a jot of a difference, no matter what we did," Gandhi said.

"Why? Because we discovered that anybody who believes they are at war or in a situation where there's fighting anticipated or going on, the last thing they want to do is bring daughters into the world. Because they believe that they will be the first victims," the minister said.

IANS