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Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the tenth anniversary of ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ scheme.

 

In a post in X (formerly Twitter), he pointed out the alleged disparity between his statements and actions concerning women’s safety. Kharge criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for prioritising the protection of criminals over the safety of women citing Hathras, Unnao, and women wrestlers’ cases.

 

“Why are 43 crimes against women recorded every hour in the country? Every day 22 crimes are registered against women and children, particularly from vulnerable Dalit-tribal communities. Modi ji has frequently spoken about women’s safety but why is there a gap between his words and actions?”, he posted.

 

The Congress president also trained his guns at the central government for halting the presentation of data related to the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ scheme.

 

He claimed that nearly 80 per cent of the allocated funds for the scheme were spent on advertisements.

 

Also read: On Beti Bachao Beti Padhao's 10th year, PM says 'sex ration improving'

 

“When this was exposed by the Parliamentary Standing Committee, the funds for the scheme were reduced by 63% between 2018-19 and 2022-23. Later, when merged with the ‘Sambal’ scheme under ‘Mission Shakti,’ the Modi government stopped providing data on the scheme’s expenditure. There was also a 30 per cent reduction in the funds allocated to ‘Sambal’ in 2023-24. What was the purpose of this data manipulation?” Kharge wrote.

 

He also questioned the Modi-led central government’s decision to reduce the budget of the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development by half over the past decade.

 

“Will putting ‘Beti Bachao’ on the back of every truck or painting it on walls stop crimes against women, create employment opportunities for them, improve health facilities, or ensure justice for women after atrocities? The BJP’s hollow advertisements claiming, ‘enough of attacks on women’ reflect its complete hypocrisy after 10 years,” Kharge said.