Empower Assam’s Girls: The Nijut Moina Scheme is the Key to Ending Child Marriage!

Introduction

• Child marriage is a pressing issue that continues to disrupt the lives of young girls across India. In the state of Assam, this social problem has deep roots, cutting short the dreams and ambitions of many girls before they can fully bloom.
• However, the Assam government, under the leadership of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, has taken a bold and proactive step to tackle this issue head-on.
• The introduction of the ‘Nijut Moina’ scheme is a landmark initiative aimed at fighting child marriage by encouraging girls to stay in school and pursue higher education.
• This blog will explore the details of the ‘Nijut Moina’ scheme, its objectives, conditions, and expected outcomes, and why this initiative is so important in the fight against child marriage.
• We will also delve into how this initiative could reshape the future for millions of young girls in Assam, providing them with the opportunity to chase their dreams and take charge of their lives.

The ‘Nijut Moina’ Scheme: Breaking the Chain of Child Marriage

• Major initiatives taken by government of Assam to protect girls from child marriage and make them empowered is the ‘Nijut Moina’ scheme which pays monthly honorarium to girl students.
• This financial is supposed to enable them further their studies, and thus delay marriage until such a time they will be in a position to make decisions on their own.
• It is rather broad: the scheme provides for financial support for classes 11, and universities, as well as for training on the corresponding level. Here is a breakdown of the stipends provided under the scheme:
  • Any girl studying in Classes 11 and 12 is eligible to claim Rs 1,000 per month as stipend.
  • Rs 1,250 per month to girl child pursuing their university education and an amount of Rs 250 per month to students in college and university respectively.
  • Rs 2500 per month for the girls those who are studying in post graduate classes.
  • These stipends offer a reasonable monetary assistance, mean that girls can attend school and can alleviate the parents’ economical challenge.

Conditions to Receive Stipends: Education and Commitment

• The scholarship provided under Nijut Moina is in form of stipends and they should be aware that they are receiving them based on certain condition that they stay in school.
• To qualify for the scheme, girls must meet two crucial conditions:

Attend school regularly and perform well in their studies.

• The educations strength to ensure he or she qualifies for the monthly stipend depends on two or more aspects that may include attendance and performance.
• This helps the girls to remain focused with their education and also fully utilize the schemes provided for by the dropout

Get married after the completion of postgraduate level education.

• One of the most powerful aspects of the ‘Nijut Moina’ scheme is that girls are required to pledge to postpone their marriage until they have completed their postgraduate studies.
• This helps ensure that they prioritize their education and personal development over early marriage, which often leads to compromised health, early motherhood, and a lack of economic independence.

• It is especially important to note that the scheme excludes the daughters of government officials so that there is focused development for those who stand to benefit from it the most – the students of less privileged or economically weaker sections of society.

A Bold Move to End Child Marriage in Assam by 2026

• Announcing the Nijut Moina scheme is one such step to end child marriage in Assam by 2026. This ambitious goal has been made by the new Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma with additional argument that child marriage leads to girl’s dropout from school.
• The premise for this project is well understood—child marriage removes girls from school, and thus restricts their future employment possibilities and exposes them to numerous risks such as poverty, domestic violence, and poor health.
• With the ‘Nijut Moina’ scheme, it is this cycle which the global giving organisation also aims to address – by offering financial support towards school fees, UN Women hopes to keep girls in school as they acquire the necessary knowledge that will help them be independent and productive women.

Long-Term Social Impact: Encouraging Higher Education and Financial Independence

• The following are some of the values of the ‘Nijut Moina’ scheme : According to the expert opinion it has been found that the social Welfare scheme of ‘Nijut Moina’ will trigger drastic social change as the following Social Benefits : Here are some of the expected outcomes:
  • Encouraging girls to pursue higher education: The stipends enable girls to afford tuition and other essential needs hence they go further with their education other than secondary education which creates all sorts of job vacancies.
  • Reducing financial stress on families: Parents in many households in Assam are often hesitant to spend on their children’s education. The impossibility of the family members, particularly parents, to afford to meet all these essential needs is thereby phased out by the stipends offered under the scheme.
  • Promoting gender equality: Hearing arisen scheme of girls education and early marriage the scheme fosters gender equity and empowers the girl child challenging cultural backward norms of early marriage and limited or no education for the girl child.
  • Improving maternal and infant health outcomes: Over the years different scholars have proposed that girls who marry at a later age are more likely to have better maternal and infancy health. Early marriages are undesirable for young women because they are able to undergo physical and psychological changes before they can be ready to get pregnant.
  • Fostering economic independence: Education is one of the most effective ways that women can employ so as to gain economic emancipation. Through promoting girls’ education, ‘Nijut Moina’ enables them to acquire education and necessary qualifications to find better paid jobs and therefore are not fully dependent either on brothers or husbands.

Positive Trends: The Impact of Previous Government Initiative

• While the ‘Nijut Moina’ scheme draws the emphasis on the experience that the Assam government has made earlier to prevent the practice of child marriage.
• The 20 districts of Assam have witnessed a dramatic reduction of 81 percent between 2021-22 and 2023-24 on child marriage cases.
• This considerable progress has testified the success of the state’s policies and programmes and the ‘Nijut Moina’ scheme is likely to boost this favorable trend.

A Brighter Future for Assam’s Girls

• The current Assam government has a vision of bringing change to the society through the future generations and to achieve that they have initiated the project of investing RS 1500 crore in the ‘Nijut Moina’ scheme for the sole purpose for the education of girls.
• With the scheme for supporting 10 lakh (1 million) girl students, the social change it is going to bring about is phenomenal and will have positive impact on the families the communities and the society they belong.
• By encouraging the girls to go to university, delaying their marriage, the ‘Nijut Moina’ scheme is giving the future generation of girls a chance to dream big, work towards fulfilling those dreams and escape the early marriage death sentence.
• This is not just a simple cash-transfer program for supporting girls’ education; it is the first though step towards a better future for girls to be self-employed, become responsible citizens and positively impact the development of the state and the nation.

Join the Movement: Support the ‘Nijut Moina’ Scheme

• As it is with any innovative scheme of social uplift – the ‘Nijut Moina’ scheme has a great potential for girls in Assam, but it will require active collective effort to make the same succeed.
• Regardless of one’s status as a parent, teacher, policymaker, or an ordinary member of a given community, there is a way to participate in the process,
• increase the awareness of the existence of the scheme among girls, help them utilize it, and lobbying for educational rights of girls at every level.

FAQS

1. What is the ‘Nijut Moina’ scheme?

Ans: The ‘Nijut Moina’ scheme is an initiative by the Assam government to fight against child marriage by providing financial support to girl students. The scheme aims to encourage girls to continue their education and delay marriage until after they complete postgraduate studies.

2. Who is eligible for the stipends under this scheme?

Ans: Girl students from Class 11 to postgraduate level are eligible for monthly stipends. However, daughters of government officials are not eligible to benefit from the scheme.