Tag: United Nations Children’s Fund

After Malda, now Birbhum to be declared as Open Defecation Free district

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After Malda, which had been declared an Open Defecation Free (ODF) district in November, Birbhum is soon going to become a ‘Nirmal Jela’. It will be the 10th district to be notified as such.

Among other districts that have already been declared as ODF are Nadia (India’s first ODF district), North and South 24 Parganas, Purba Medinipur, Hooghly, Purba and Paschim Bardhaman and Cooch Behar.

In Howrah, work to make the district Open Defecation Free is on in full swing. By March 2018, two more districts — Paschim Medinipur and Murshidabad – will be declared ODF. The remaining districts have been given a goal of attaining the ODF status by December 2018.

Mission Nirmal Bangla has been highly successful in making the districts of Bengal largely free from open defecation activities. Programmes of the scheme like awareness rallies, Nirmal Utsav, felicitation of community facilitators, Nirmal Adda, etc. ensure that ODF becomes a sustained habit, and there is no slipping back to open defecation. Third-party verification activity has been introduced in the rural areas of districts to ensure that there is impartial verification of the building and usage of toilets.

April 30 is celebrated every year as Nirmal Bangla Diwas, being designated so by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Under Mamata Banerjee’s leadership, Bengal had already started its journey towards achieving ODF status for the rural areas of the state since the World Toilet Day celebration on November 19, 2013. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is a partner of the State Government in this journey.

 

মালদার পর এবার বীরভূম হবে নির্মল জেলা

নির্মল বাংলার লক্ষ্যে দৃঢ় পদক্ষেপে এগিয়ে চলেছে পশ্চিমবঙ্গ। নভেম্বর মাসেই মালদাকে নির্মল জেলা ঘোষণা করা হয়েছে। এরপরই, ডিসেম্বরে বীরভূম জেলা হতে চলেছে রাজ্যের দশম নির্মল জেলা।

যে জেলাগুলিকে ইতিমধ্যেই নির্মল ঘোষণা করা হয়েছে সেগুলি হল, নদীয়া (দেশের প্রথম নির্মল জেলা), মালদা, কোচবিহার, উত্তর ও দক্ষিণ ২৪ পরগনা, হুগলী, পূর্ব মেদিনীপুর, পূর্ব ও পশ্চিম বর্ধমান।

হাওড়া জেলাকে নির্মল জেলা ঘোষণা করার কাজ জোরকদমে এগোচ্ছে। আগামী মার্চ মাসের মধ্যে ১৪টি জেলাকে নির্মল ঘোষণা করার জন্য কোমর বেঁধে আসরে নেমেছে রাজ্য সরকার।

রাজ্যের পঞ্চায়েত ও গ্রামোন্নয়ন দপ্তর ২০১৮ সালের ডিসেম্বর মাসের মধ্যে রাজ্যের সব জেলাকে নির্মল ঘোষণা করার লক্ষ্য নিয়ে এগোচ্ছে। শৌচাগার তৈরী করার পাশাপাশি পঞ্চায়েত ও গ্রামোন্নয়ন দপ্তর গ্রামে গ্রামে পুরোমাত্রায় প্রচার চালাচ্ছে যাতে গ্রামবাসীরা সেই শৌচাগারগুলি ব্যবহার করেন। পদযাত্রা, নির্মল উৎসব, নির্মল আড্ডা প্রভৃতি কর্মসূচি গ্রহণ করা হয়েছে।

প্রসঙ্গত ৩০শে এপ্রিল প্রতি বছর রাজ্যে নির্মল বাংলা দিবস পালন করা হয়।

Source: Millennium Post

Kanyashree Bengal

The success story of Kanyashree – Mamata Banerjee’s brainchild

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The historic Kanyashree Project, launched by the West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee in 2013 is now bearing the fruits of her outstanding farsightedness.

The Chief Minister said that girls are precious assets of the society and in future they will lead the country. She laid stress empowering the future citizens of the nation through proper education. She appealed to the parents not to marry off minor girls only to achieve social security; they should be allowed to study and build their future.

About the scheme

Launched on 1st October, 2013, the response had been so huge that within a year 16 lakh girls were registered under the scheme. Till date 22 lakh girls have been registered under the scheme and the government plans to extend the benefit to 40 lakh girls in the next two years.

In terms of simplicity, transparency and outreach, Kanyashree scheme is unique and first of its kind in India. Not only can an applicant apply for the scheme in her school, madrassah, vocational training centre or wherever she is studying, for transparency purpose, the entire scheme can be accessed online on a dedicated website – www.wbkanyashree.gov.in

UNICEF partners West Bengal Government for the implementation of Kanyashree

UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) has become a partner of the West Bengal Government for the implementation of Kanyashree scheme. The objective is to instill confidence among them, to encourage their education, and to discourage their early marriage.

The partnership between UNICEF and West Bengal Government is not a superficial involvement but a technical partnership. UNICEF has decided to hire a premium agency with the best expertise in India to do a “baseline survey” regarding the scheme. This will be followed by an “impact assessment”, to be funded by UNICEF.

Kanyashree scheme receives international recognition

Department for International Development ,United Kingdom and UNICEF had selected the scheme for presentation at the”Girl Summit” 2014 to be held at London. The State Government has been invited to make a presentation of the scheme before a global audience.

Union Women and Child Development Minister praises Kanyashree scheme

Union Minister of Women and Child Development praised the Kanyashree scheme of West Bengal Government during a reply on the motion for stricter measures to curb the rising crimes against women. During her speech she said that the Kanyashree scheme was an excellent idea.

The first Kanyashreee Dibas

The first Kanyashreee Dibas was celebrated on August 14, 2014 in every block of the State. On the day, The Chief Minister felicitated fifty girl students for their achievement in different competitions, as well as distributed prizes to three best districts, three best schools and three best colleges for their contribution to the Kanyashree scheme.

Film on Kanyashree by Oscar-winning filmmaker

After international accolades, recognition by UNICEF and invitation to the Girl Summit 2014 in London, the Kanyashree scheme has also been portrayed in a short-film made by an Oscar-winning director on a young girl’s fight to stave off marriage and help her family make ends meet and was screened at the Kolkata International Film Festival. Made by Oscar winning American short filmmaker Megan Mylan, the film, ‘After My Garden Grows’, was about a beneficiary of the West Bengal Government’s Kanyashree and Sabala schemes that are aimed at empowering the women of rural Bengal.

Kanyashree impact: School dropout rate among girls falls in Bengal

According to data from the National Sample Survey 2014, the school dropout rate among girls in the State has come down. The report says that while the National average for school dropout rate for girls is 3.23%, the same for the State is 1.28%. In the 2009 survey, the figure stood at 2.34% for Bengal.

National honours for Kanyashree

The Department of Woman Development and Social Welfare, Government of West Bengal has been awarded Silver Medal for the “Kanyasshree Prakalpo” in the Category of “Outstanding Service in Citizen-Centric Service.”

Bottomline

Using Kanyashree as a weapon, the state government is now urging the police and non-government organizations to go ahead to the micro level to generate awareness so that such crimes are minimised in the state. In a special training programme for police personnel jointly organized by the district police, district legal services authority (DLSA) and an NGO, the joint secretary emphasised on the utility of Kanyashree.

West Bengal is home to 88.34 lakh teenager girls as per the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB). Most of these girls are vulnerable to child trafficking in the form of child marriage and other forms of coercion. Kanyasree project is an exclusive scheme to save the vulnerable girls. Police personnel are being explained on how to take action against trafficking of teenagers and prevent banes like child marriage.