Tripura govt announces economic package for BPL girl childrens
Agartala, 10 June : The Tripura government has declared a special economic package for girl children in the families under below poverty line (BPL) up to 16 years of age in a bid to prevent female foeticide.
Announcing this, Chief Minister Manik Sarkar yesterday told newspersons that under the programme, the state government would provide Rs 300 to the mother of a girl child every month for her care and education, saying the scheme was effective from 1 June, 2009, onwards. "We will extend the support to the families having a maximum of two girl children. The fund will be transferred to her mother soon after her birth though saving accounts of bank or post office," Manik Sarkar said adding initially about 20,000 families would get the benefit. According to him, the male-female ratio in Tripura had been showing a downward trend and this forced the government to take a slew of initiatives under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). Sarkar informed that the scheme would help in maintaining gender balance. ”While gender equality is being upheld, female infants were still found dumped in trash by dozens,” he observed. It would be through active generation of political will and result-oriented action plans, the government could effectively provide free and compulsory education for girl children, the Chief Minister said.
Besides, implementation of Dowry Prohibition Act and other relevant laws grant of equal property rights to girls would also help in this regard, he further informed.
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B'desh journalist life hangs in the balance; His US supporters keep faith
Heather Robinson, Free Press Society, 10 June : Journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, who was physically attacked and beaten in February by thugs he believes were members of the Bangladeshi government’s ruling party, has recovered from his injuries.
But this independent Bangladeshi journalist, whose groundbreaking reporting exposed the Islamist radicalization of children being funded by Saudi Arabia and other sources in Bangladesh’s schools, said this week he fears he is still being targeted by Islamist radicals whom he believes are tied to the government of Bangladesh. READ MORE