Kanyashree Prakalpa

' ^[1] It is one of its kind initiative taken by the Government of West Bengal to improve the life and the status of the girls by helping economically backward families with cash so that families do not arrange the marriage of their girl child before eighteen years because of economic problem. The purpose of this initiative is to uplift those girls who are from poor families and thus can’t pursue higher studies due to tough economic conditions.^[2]

Girls are not legally allowed to get married before 18 years in India but in reality, child marriage is quite common in India and also in some parts of West Bengal. According to DLHS -3, 2007-08, every 2nd girl in the State of West Bengal is a child bride. This practice is quite prevalent in rural areas but that does not mean that the urban areas are free from it. In fact, it appears that every 3rd girl get married even before they reached adulthood. This is the reason why the Government of West Bengal decided to launch this scheme that offers cash to poor families so that the girl child can continue their education.

Kanyashree Prakalpa is incentivizing the education of girl children and thus forcing the family indirectly to allow their girl child to continue her study. The money is directly transferred to the bank account of the girl.^[3]

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