Budget 2020: ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, A Huge Success,’ Says Sitharaman

Budget 2020: Setting up of a task force to recommend marriageable age for women, was another crucial announcement the Finance Minister made with regard to women empowerment.

**EDS: TV GRAB** New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presents the Union Budget 2020-21 in the Lok Sabha, in New Delhi, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020. (LSTV/PTI Photo)

New Delhi: The Parliament witnessed uproar when Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that Modi government’s ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ scheme has had a tremendous impact and is benefiting girls, as she delivered her second Budget address. Speaking about the relevance of the budget to women, she said that the government has allocated Rs 28,600 crore for programmes specifically for women. Setting up of a task force to recommend marriageable age for women, was another crucial announcement she made with regard to women empowerment. Gross enrolment ratio for girls across all levels of education is higher than boys, she revealed. At the elementary level, 94.32 per cent of girls enrol in schools. On the secondary level, 81 per cent of girls get enrolled she said. She said that Budget 2020 is for "every woman, who wants to stand up and be counted." She said Rs 9,500 crore has been provided for senior citizens and Divyangs, while Rs 35,600 crore has been allocated for the nutrition-related programme in FY21. Watch | 'Beti bachao, beti padhao' has yielded tremendous results: FM The finance minister further said that Rs 85,000 crore has been allocated for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the Budget. This is the second time Sitharaman has delivered the budget speech. She is only the second woman finance minister after Indira Gandhi to do so in the history of independent India.