Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday raised serious questions about the Centre’s commitment to women’s safety and empowerment after an RTI revealed that Rs 455 crores have allegedly gone missing from the Modi government’s ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ scheme. The scheme, launched in 2015, aims to address gender imbalance and promote women’s empowerment.
In a social media post on X, Kharge stated, “RTI has revealed that Rs 455 crores have ‘disappeared’ from the Modi government’s ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ scheme.”
Kharge criticized the BJP’s slogan “Enough of attacks on women,” calling it hollow in light of numerous instances of harassment and violence against women under BJP rule. He cited cases like the rape of a woman in a government bus in Pune and the struggles of women in Manipur, Hathras, and even female Olympic champions.
He accused the government of attempting to hide statistics related to the scheme. “We had recently asked three questions to Modi Ji on ‘Beti Bachao,’ one of which was on hiding statistics. Today, the latest revelations of the RTI have once again exposed the lies of the Modi Government,” Kharge added.
Earlier in January 2025, Kharge had already questioned the effectiveness of the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ scheme, which was touted as a revolutionary initiative to empower women and address the declining child sex ratio in India.
In his post on X, Kharge raised three critical questions for Prime Minister Narendra Modi: “Why did the BJP adopt the policy of ‘Save the criminals’ instead of ‘Save the daughters’? When will the women of Manipur get justice? Why has the BJP always protected the criminals in cases involving the daughters of Hathras, Unnao, and our champion female wrestlers?”
Kharge also highlighted the alarming frequency of crimes against women in the country. “Why are 43 crimes against women recorded every hour in the country? Every day 22 crimes are registered against women and children of the most vulnerable Dalit-tribal class. Modi ji has spoken about women’s safety many times, but why is there a difference between words and actions?” he asked.
He pointed out misallocation of funds under the scheme, noting that nearly 80% of the total amount allocated until 2019 was spent only on media advertising. He also alleged that the government stopped providing data on the scheme’s expenditure after the Parliamentary Standing Committee exposed these discrepancies.
“When this fact was exposed, the funds for the scheme were cut by a massive 63% between 2018-19 and 2022-23. Later, by merging it with the ‘Sambal’ scheme under ‘Mission Shakti,’ the Modi government stopped providing data on the spending for ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao,'” Kharge claimed.
Kharge further accused the Centre of a lack of accountability, highlighting that the budget for the Ministry of Women and Child Development had been reduced by half over the last 11 years. “There has also been a 30% reduction in funds allocated and used for ‘Sambal’ in 2023-24. What was this manipulation of data done to hide?” he questioned.
Concluding his remarks, Kharge called out the BJP’s broken promises. “Will sticking ‘Beti Bachao’ on the back of every truck or painting it on every wall stop crimes against women, provide employment opportunities, improve health facilities, or deliver justice? BJP’s hollow advertisement of ‘Enough of attacks on women’ shows its utter hypocrisy after 10 years,” he wrote.