So, 161 districts and Rs 160 crore. Let’s do the math. Each district got less than Rs 1 crore under the programme, and spread across four years, that’s less than Rs 25 lakh a year.

More money has been spent on advertising ‘Beti Bachao’ than on actually improving life for girls in India.

But the amount that was sent to these districts, however small, must have made a difference right?

Again, not really.

In 53 districts out of the 161 districts under the BBBP scheme, the child sex ratio – the ratio of girls to boys – actually DECLINED! Here are a few examples. In Nicobar, the ratio fell from 985 girls per 1,000 boys in 2014-15 to 839 girls per 1,000 boys.

That’s a huge drop! In Puducherry, the numbers fell from 1,107 girls for every 1,000 boys to 976 girls for every 1,000 boys… And the worst part is, this number was actually higher BEFORE BBBP!