New Delhi, May 4 (PTI) Union minister Maneka Gandhi today said Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan had done well in implementing the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' scheme, whereas Kashmir and Bihar lagged behind in terms of child sex ratio.

The women and child development minister appreciated the initiatives taken by some districts such as one involving chemist associations so that drugs for abortion were not sold without prescription. The chemists were asked to report in case such an instance came to their notice.

While addressing a day-long national conference on 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' (BBBP) here, she also stressed on the need for self-defense training for girls and consent issues.

She suggested that promoting adoptions can also be helpful in reducing female foeticide and infanticide.

"The states that have done best so far are Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab. These were the worst states (when the programme started) and they have gone from zero to hero. These are macho man states where there is a patriarchal system. They were not even expected to do well. Be it the problem of khaps in Haryana or Punjab's tandoori chicken culture, they are macho states," she said.

"Whenever a state or its people feel that they are in war or there is a feeling that there is an atmosphere of war, they (people) are usually hesitant in giving birth to daughters," the minister said while talking about Kashmir.

The campaign also failed in Bihar because the funds never reached the districts and due to frequent transfers of district magistrates in some districts, she added.

"The money never reached the districts. It reached the state and languished there. It failed in those districts where DMs were changed in every three months. There was no ownership," Gandhi said.

The minister said for the programme to be a success, the people had to pull together as a nation.

"We have to pull together as a nation. If we have porous borders like this and people breaking rules in other state and not doing in the other, we have to do something," Gandhi said.

"In Rajasthan, they exercised strictness under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act but some people crossed over to Madhya Pradesh, got an ultrasound done and got the baby girl aborted," she said.

The minister suggested several initiatives such as celebrating the birth of girl child, engaging sarpanchs and make them aware about various aspects of the scheme and issues of girl child.

She also highlighted the need for training of women sarpanchs in every district for achieving the goals of the BBBP.

She suggested that counselling facilities may be provided at abortion centres where necessary information and counselling can be provided to women.

Gandhi said as a result of initiatives by various states, UTs, latest data for 161 BBBP districts indicated that for time period between April-March 2015-16 and 2016-17, an improving trend in sex ratio at birth (SRB) was visible in 104 districts.

As many as 119 districts reported progress in first trimester registrations against reported Ante Natal Care registrations and 146 districts reported improvement in institutional deliveries.

Launched in January 2015, the BBBP scheme was implemented in 161 districts. The new 244 districts, with low Child Sex Ratio (CSR), from 25 states and union territories from across the country would be covered under multi-sectoral intervention.

The nodal officers of 244 districts, state nodal officers and senior officers were present in the day-long conference.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)