Panaji, March 17: Goa’s declining sex ratio is a major cause for concern for the state government, Chief Minister Digambar Kamat said Thursday unveiling several schemes to arrest the trend in his budget speech.
Kamat Thursday said the sex ratio had dipped to an all time low of 1,000:961 and it needed a multi-pronged corrective strategy to resolve the crisis early.
“We are ‘incentivising’ the mother with financial assistance immediately on the delivery of a girl child, provided it is not her third child. Once a girl child is born, a fixed deposit will be automatically opened in her name with a specified amount,” Kamat said.
He further said that under the new scheme, girl children would also be given free school uniforms, text books and educational aid as further incentives.
“A financial incentive of Rs.5,000 will also be provided to the mother soon after delivery of the child so that her post-delivery nutritional requirements are taken care of,” he said, adding that a provision of Rs.5.50 crore had been made in the budget.
—-IANS