Events of ADRI (Patna - Ranchi)
Patna, 28 October. Shree Tarkishore Prasad, Hon'ble Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar released a Manual for Child Budgeting in Bihar today. This manual was developed by Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI) in association with the Department of Finance, GOB and the Bihar Field Office of UNICEF.
In his Presidential Address, Shree Tarkishore Prasad said that, as per the 2011 census, the population of children in Bihar between 0-18 years is 5 crores. 90 % of these children reside in rural areas. He remarked that we should think about furthering their improvement so that they become front-runners in the future. This will ensure a bright future for Bihar. Further, Bihar is one of only three states which started child budgeting in 2013-14.
He emphasized that there has been a continuous increase in the allocation and expenditure for children in the past nine years. Between 2013-14 and 2019-20, the overall expenditure for children registered an annual growth of 22.7 percent. The government of Bihar is working earnestly to improve the lot of the girl child with the help of schemes like Kanya Uthan Yojana. Many new schools have been opened and this has reduced the dropout rates of children.
Dr. S. Siddharth, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Finance stated in his Special Address that there should be a separate chapter for the girl child in the Child Budget and its progress should be monitored continuously. In Bihar, most parents think of marrying off the girl child once she reaches 14 years. In order to rectify this problem, the government of Bihar is striving to help educate the girl child till she graduates. This will also help empower the girl child and reduce the fertility rate. He suggested that there should be studies for measuring the outcome of this child budgeting exercise.
Ms. Nafisa Binte Shafique, Chief, UNICEF office for Bihar, delivered the Introductory Remarks. She remarked that in the beginning, 8 departments were included in the Child Budget, but now, 11 departments will be reporting for the same. The significant developmental gains made by government of Bihar are being threatened by the onslaught of Covid.
Dr. Prabhat P Ghosh, Member Secretary, ADRI opined in his Welcome Address that Bihar is close to the national level as far as IMR is concerned but that is not the case with regard to the field of education. Shree Prashanna Ash of UNICEF, Bihar proposed a Vote of Thanks for the first session.
In the second session, Dr. Barna Ganguli, Assistant Professor, CEPPF, ADRI introduced the Child Budget Manual, 2021. She described how it had become possible to bring out the Child Budget Manual and how it will help the line departments in preparing the Child Budget. Shree Pramod Kumar Verma, Former Additional Director, Department of Planning and Development focused on the 21 Sustainable Development Goal indicators related to the Child Budget. Shree Sanjeev Mittal, Budget Officer-cum-Deputy Secretary, Department of Finance imparted training to the nodal officers on the child budgeting process. Shree Sudip Kumar Pandey of ADRI proposed a Vote of Thanks.