In directives issued by the rural development department to ZPs and Panchayat Samitis (PS) a week ago, the state government said it has reviewed the working of 24 schemes evolved in 2001 and 17 schemes added in 2006, and reduced the number of schemes to 21. And the new list of schemes includes the bicycle scheme for girls from Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.

The ZPs have been asked to provide free bicycles to girls from Class V to Class X who walk minimum two kilometres to reach their school. The ZPs have been asked to conduct a survey to find out the beneficiaries and implement the novel scheme.

The new directives also ask ZPs and PSs to provide sex education to adolescent girls and boys. “We call it life-skills (not sex education) that are necessary for adolescents,” a senior official said. “We have asked the ZPs to seek the help of NGOs and medical experts to impart scientific information on the problems faced by students who are growing up with secondary sexual characteristics,” he said.

He pointed out that there would be separate classes for boys and girls and such classes, which would last one to two hours, would be held once a week. “Basically, we want the girls to know about personal hygiene, menstruation, pregnancy, bad effects of marrying early, contraception methods and sexual harassment. The boys would be educated on anatomy, how to behave with girls and sexually transmitted diseases,” he said, pointing out that the idea was to provide proper information that would remove unscientific beliefs and prepare rural students to face the world with confidence.

He further stated that ZPs have been asked to prepare a booklet on the subject for circulation among students. The ZPs have also been asked to form committees under the chief executive officers to provide legal aid to women in distress.

The new list of 21 schemes to be executed by the woman and child committees of ZPs includes: bicycles for poor girls, “life-skills” for adolescents, mass weddings to combat dowry, martial arts training for girls, sewing machines to poor women, health checkup camps for infants, competitions for talented children, counselling on domestic violence, inclusion of eggs, milk, fruits, jaggery and groundnuts for mid-day meal, equipment for anganwadis, uniforms for students from Class V to Class X, financial aid to economically backward students, technical and vocational training, training for computer literacy, legal aid for women, helpline for women in distress, medicines for anganwadis and awards for good anganwadis.