Page 43 - NIS - English,16-30 September,2022
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Sankalp Yatra of New India  Cover Story

            Muslim women get                                                            34


    33      freedom from triple talaq                                         26 weeks of
                                                                              maternity leave


       July 2019                                                              Now 26 weeks of maternity
       A bill was passed to make it a crime to                                leave are allowed which earlier
       give instant triple talaq (talaq-e-biddat) to                          was 12 weeks. This decision
       protect Muslim women                                                   was taken to provide ample

          In the year 2017, the Supreme Court,                                time for taking proper health
       .n                                                                     care of pregnant women and
          while giving a verdict in the Shayara                               babies. It aimed to combat child
          Bano case, declared instant triple                                  malnutrition and improving
          talaq unconstitutional. The five-judge                              better maternal health. In
          bench of different religions gave its                               order to ensure proper care
          verdict by three-two. The court had                                 and upbringing of children,
          asked the government to bring a law                                 the government amended the
          in this direction within six months. The   The sin of depriving     Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 in
                                                    crores of mothers and
          government got the Muslim Women's        sisters of their rights was   2017 to increase the maternity
          Right to Marriage Protection Bill passed   committed in the name of   leave from 12 weeks to 26
          by both houses of Parliament. The bill   appeasement.  I am proud   weeks by changing 55 years old
          was passed in the Lok Sabha on 25 July   that our government has    law. With this move, India has
          and in the Rajya Sabha on 30 July 2019.  got the distinction of giving   joined countries like Canada and

          Significance- This was a relief for lakhs   Muslim women their due.
       .n                                           -Narendra Modi, Prime     Norway in terms of maternity
          of Muslim women. Resulted to decline in        Minister             leaves.
          number of triple talaq cases.



      35    BETI BACHAO, BETI PADHAO: PROGRESS EVERYWHERE


            The Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao scheme                            Its impact
            was launched in January 2015 to address
            issues such as declining child sex ratio           The sex ratio        According to the latest
            and empower girls and women throughout             at birth at the      National Family Health
            their lives. This scheme, which began with         national level       Survey, there are 1020
                                                                                    women per 1000 men
            the goal of emphasising the importance of          has increased
            daughters, became public campaign. The             to 937 in
            words "Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao" were              2020–2021.           Enrollment of girls in
                                                                                    secondary education
            inscribed on the backs of the vehicles.            It was 918 in        increased from 75.51%
            405 district received special attention. The       2014-2015.           in 2014-2015 to 79.46%
            Sukanya Samridhi Yojana was launched to                                 in 2020-2021.
            ensure the financial security of daughters,
            with 3.03 crore accounts opened. The
            interest rate in the scheme is higher than      Remarkable improvement in institutional deliveries.
            the standard tax-free interest rate.                 There were 87% of institutional deliveries
                                                                 in 2014–2015, which increased to 94.8%
                                                                             in 2020–2021.

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