Applause for Mamata - Bengal scheme Kanyashree Prakalpa for girls wins top UN award

Mamata Banerjee receives the UN award

Devadeep Purohit, TT, The Hague, June 23: Kanyashree Prakalpa, Mamata Banerjee's brainchild to prevent the marriage of underage girls from weaker sections, today received global recognition as an "innovative public service" supporting the implementation of the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The Bengal scheme was ranked first in its category and was mentioned first among 552 nominations from 62 countries.

As the chief minister accepted the award and the auditorium at the Dutch administrative capital resonated with deafening applause, Mamata's wish of taking the local experiment to a global platform was fulfilled.

"I dedicate this award to all the young girls of Bengal," the chief minister said immediately after the awards ceremony.

"This is a big achievement.... Isn't it?" she asked with a smile while carrying a trophy and a certificate that Thomas Gass, the assistant secretary-general for policy coordination and inter-agency affairs in the department of economic and social affairs, had handed over to her.

Although several projects from across the globe - from Ecuador to Mongolia - got the UN recognition at today's programme, Kanyashree was the first Gass mentioned while giving away the awards to representatives from various countries.

In the past six years, Mamata has launched several direct benefit transfer schemes - in which the money reaches the accounts of the beneficiaries - in Bengal. But Kanyashree has always been regarded as her pet project.

The schemes have often been criticised as doles for political purposes but the chief minister has maintained that the government had a role to play to improve the living conditions of the poorest of the poor.

The Kanyashree scheme was launched in 2013 and it has benefited around 40.33 lakh girls in the past few years. The scheme makes girls in the age group of 13 to 18 eligible for Rs 750 a year to carry on with their education. A one-time grant of Rs 25,000 is given to each beneficiary after she turns 18 and continues her studies without getting married.

Several social scientists have hailed the scheme for its effectiveness in preventing the marriage of underage girls. During the awards ceremony at the UN programme, Gass mentioned the project's success.

As Mamata had often said in the past that the Centre's "Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao" scheme was modelled on Kanyashree - which had drawn ridicule from the BJP - the taste of today's award must have been sweeter for her.

"This is a vindication of her stand that Bengal is leading from the front in terms of innovating schemes for the downtrodden," a source close to the chief minister.

At the UN forum today, the chief minister's impromptu interventions during a conference - where senior ministers from countries like Lebanon, Armenia, South Africa, Slovenia and Ecuador also spoke - drew loud applause from the audience.

"Public service is a service for all. We give direct benefits to people.... Our special focus is on the minorities and the deprived sections. From newborn babies to the aged, we offer services through the entire life cycle. We not only talk about schemes, we also implement them and monitor them by holding regular administrative meetings," Mamata explained her model of delivering public service at the programme.

The focus of the event was "The Future is Now: Accelerating Public Service Innovation for Agenda 2030".

"An award for Kanyashree in a programme like this is an indication that we are moving in the right direction," Mamata said.