Think Piece 4: Token Empowerment: Why Government Schemes for Girls Often Fail the Girls Who Need Them Most by Prishita Gupta

The first time I noticed a Beti Bachao Beti Padhao banner, it was on a crumbling wall beside a government school I passed every day. The words promised empowerment, safety, and education for every girl. But a few steps away, that same school had no functioning girls’ toilet, and most girls I saw there disappeared from its classrooms by the time they turned thirteen. It made me wonder: is a banner really enough to save us?

In recent years, India has launched several welfare schemes designed to uplift girls and promote gender equality. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP), Kanya Sumangala Yojana, and other state-led initiatives aim to support girls through conditional cash transfers, awareness campaigns, and education drives. On paper, these policies are a step in the right direction. They recognize the unequal start that girls often get in life and attempt to correct it through financial and symbolic support. But while the intention is noble, the execution is hollow. These schemes often operate as checkboxes for awareness rather than actual vehicles of change. They fail to account for the social, cultural, and economic structures that continue to hold girls back, even as the state hands them a certificate of empowerment.

Take, for example, the emphasis on girl child education in these schemes. While enrollment numbers may have improved, school attendance does not guarantee learning, confidence, or freedom. Many girls drop out soon after puberty, not because they lack ability, but because they lack safe, hygienic school environments, especially in rural and low-income areas. A lack of toilets, menstrual hygiene support, and even safe transportation becomes a silent barrier. In some cases, families accept the cash benefits or scholarships but still prioritize their daughters' roles at home as unpaid caregivers, domestic help, or soon-to-be brides. What is the value of a scholarship if a girl cannot use it beyond eighth grade?

These schemes also ignore the unspoken rules that surround a girl’s life. Even in urban or progressive families, many girls are told to study hard but not speak up. To succeed but not challenge. Welfare policies often treat empowerment as a one-time transaction, rather than a process of reshaping deep-rooted gender norms. There is little room in these schemes for girls to have a say in what empowerment even looks like for them.

The problem is not just with what these schemes offer, but with what they don’t. They don’t fund safe access to schools. They don’t challenge the silence around period stigma or the shame surrounding a girl’s voice and body. They don’t offer platforms for girls to lead, speak, or be heard. And they almost never account for intersections, how caste, religion, class, and geography make some girls far more vulnerable than others.

True empowerment cannot be handed out in the form of a slogan or a cash transfer. It must come from systems that believe girls are more than just future mothers, wives, or workers. It must include programs designed with girls, not just programs that prioritize their safety, their voice, and their right to dream.

If we want to uplift girls, we must stop mistaking visibility for empowerment. A banner is not protection. A bank deposit is not freedom. And a scheme is not successful until the girl at the heart of it feels safe enough to walk into a classroom, speak her mind, and stay in school long after the cameras are gone.