"Woman is the builder and moulder of nation's destiny" - Rabindranath Tagore

Girls in Madhya Pradesh have a valid reason to smile - and so do the parents, courtesy the slew of measures taken by the state government towards women empowerment in all its dimensions. How civilized a society is measured by the status of women in it. In ancient India, women enjoyed a very dignified and lofty status. According to Manu, the Hindu Law Giver, "Gods dwell in the households where women are respected". They used to play an active role in all spheres of life. However, for historical reasons women lost their pride of place, getting condemned to an undignified and ignoble life. The situation continued to worsen to such an extent that being a woman became a curse, literally. Even women themselves began to lose the sense of self worth.

However, in modern India the situation is somewhat changing for the better. Now, women are making their impressive presence felt in all the spheres, even in the ones traditionally considered to be male domains. Just name any field and they are there. But this welcome change is, unfortunately, largely confined to urban and urbanized areas with women in rural and far-off areas still living in quite pitiable condition. The birth of a girl child is considered a curse. The girls face discrimination at every stage, taking a backseat at home. The discrimination begins even before birth. Female foetus is terminated after sex determination test. The fortunate ones who do take birth are discriminated against in every respect, especially in matters related to health, nutrition and education. The situation prevails in almost all states of the country. And Madhya Pradesh is no exception.

However, now a considerable difference has been made following effective intervention of the state government. The well-conceived measures taken by it at the initiative of the Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan are sure to secure women their rightful place in society.

The CM has started a novel practice of holding panchayats of different sections of society to enable them to voice their concerns, problems, and suggestions. His concern for empowerment of women is shown by the fact that very first panchayat he held was those of women. The participants shared their views on various burning issues. After minute study and analysis of these suggestions and views, he introduced a number of novel schemes to take care of girls and women right from birth. These initiatives aim at changing the mind-set in which a girl is considered to be a burden.

Right from the beginning, the state government has ensured an effective implementation of the PNDT Act to put a firm check on sex determination tests. A Rs 10,000 cash award has been instituted for giving information of embryo sex determination test.

Concerned with the general tendency of considering a girl child as a curse, Chouhan resolved to change it. He introduced a very well contemplated Ladali Laxami Yojana to take care of girls. Under this, a National Saving Certificate is purchased in the name of a girl at the time of her birth. More importantly, it has been connected to their education. On admission in the VI Std, the girl is given a cash amount of Rs. 2,000 and on admission in IX Rs 4,000. When she clears X examination and gets admission in XI she would get Rs 7,500 cash and Rs 200 per month to cover the expenses on education of XI and XII classes. On attaining the age of 21 years she would get a cash of Rs 1.18 lakh. Over 14,000 girls have already benefited under this unique scheme.

Again, at the initiative of the CM, the state government has implemented a novel Kanyadan Yojana for marriage of girls belonging to poor families. Over 62,000 such marriages have already been solemnized at government expenditure so far in the State.

The state government has taken special care of the health problems of girls and women. In order to bring down the maternal mortality rate (MMR) and infant mortality rate (IMR) a Janani Suraksha Yojana has been introduced to promote institutional deliveries. About 12 lakh women have already benefited from it. Under the scheme, a sum of Rs 1400 is given to a pregnant woman for delivery in a hospital. As a result of this, now the percentage of institutional deliveries has increased from 26 to 55 percent in the state. The IMR has also come down from 80 to 70 percent and MMR from 498 to 379 per lakh.