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New efforts by Government
The government would declare January 24, 2009 as the national irl child day with a focus on
targeting the scourges of female foeticide, domestic violence and malnutrition. The girl child day to be announced by Women and Child Development Minister Renuka Chaudhry on January 19 was cleared by the Cabinet
recently. Along with the declaration, the ministry would also launch a sustained campaign to create awareness about female
foeticide, domestic violence and malnutrition in women and children.
Women and Child Development minister Renuka Chaudhary has finally got
the authority to crack down on female foeticide. According to the proposal, the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Technique Department
(PNDT), which keeps a check on female foeticide cases, will be transferred to Renuka’s ministry.
The department is currently under the health ministry, and has so far failed to
effectively implement the PNDT act which makes female foeticide a crime.“There has been no meeting, no survey, entire exercise is a sham in the name of
PNDT,” Member, PNDT task force, Ranjna Kumari, says.
Expressing serious concern over the "heinous" practice of female feoticide, President Pratibha Patil exhorted the Indian society to change its attitude towards girl child. Although women have excelled in various fields, they
continue to face many problems and challenges due to the narrow-mindedness of some in the
society, Patil said after unveiling the statue of Maharaja Shri Agarsenji at Banjara Hills
on January 2, 2009 at Hyderabad.
"Domestic violence, harassment at work place, oppressive attitude, differences in education and employment opportunities are among many challenges being faced by Indian women which we all need to solve," Patil said. "I have seen that the act of female foeticide prevails more in the educated and affluent society, which is a cause of worry," the President said. Favouring equal rights for women in society, Patil asked women to become more aware of their rights.
The President felt that imparting education to the girl child and women could play a vital role in changing the society's attitude towards them. Patil appealed the society to vow to eradicate social evils such as dowry, child marriage, female foeticide and alcholism and work towards bringing the poor and backward classes on the path of development. |
Expressing serious concern over the "heinous" practice of female
feoticide, President Pratibha Patil exhorted the Indian society to change its attitude towards girl child.
"I have seen that the act of female foeticide prevails more in the educated and affluent society, which is a cause of worry," the President said. |
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An actress to promote a campaign
Raveena Tandon actress who has been associated with numerous NGOs and social activities was in the Pink City recently to promote a campaign aimed at saving the girl child.
“In India a woman is worshiped as Devi Durga and Laxmi. Ironically, even after so many years of independence and becoming one of the fastest growing countries of the world, a girl in India is still considered as a burden and is brutally murdered. In fact, it is the women folk who do it more. So, as a woman I feel do we really have the right to be called Devi
Maa?” asked an emotional Raveena, as she addressed a congregation of women and the media.
A mother herself, Raveena even said, “Being a mother of a girl, I feel it is the greatest gift of God. In fact, it is one true feeling that makes me feel that I am a complete woman.” Adding further the actor shared how her daughter Rasha
invigorates her to carry this cause forward. “Rasha is a true inspiration for me and it is she who has inspired me to visit rural and suburban areas to make this campaign a success.” In fact, after Jaipur, the actress will be visiting Agra to create awareness about female foeticide, as part of a UNICEF programme. In the Pink City, she walked shoulder to shoulder with Jaipurites even as she officially launched the campaign. |
Raveena Tandon
who has been associated with numerous NGOs and social activities was in Jaipur recently to promote a campaign aimed at saving the girl child. |
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The sex ratio in India
Women and girls face inequity and inequality everywhere. But in our country they are devalued as human beings from the day they are born.
They are even denied the right to be born if their families do not wish them to be born and many families do not wish their womenfolk to deliver baby daughters.
In the 1901 census , the sex ratio was 1,072 women for every 1,000 men in India.
The sex ratio, or the number of females for a thousand males, fell to 927 according to the 1991 census, as compared to 972 per 1,000 in the 1961 census.
2001 census shows the sex ratio as 933. The sex ratio of 933 to 1000 shown by the 2001 census in India is among the lowest in the whole world.
In states like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana , Punjab and Rajasthan the sex ratio has plummeted to around 850 women for every 1,000 men.
In specific communities of Bihar and Rajasthan the ratio is a mere 600 females for 1,000 males.
These figures eloquently tell us a ghastly and gory story of the mysterious disappearance of millions of women ( 40-50
million) in few years from India. It indicates that the social malaise of female foeticide and infanticide is rampant in our country, even as we
boast for our economic progress and preparing to become a superpower.
It is evident that foetal sexing is widely done in India, particularly in the
Hindi-speaking belt, comprising Bihar, U.P., Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and
Maharashtra. Even among the privileged upper middle and upper classes, where the resources for comfortable upbringing are not a problem, the second girl child is aborted in nearly 20 per cent of the cases, and the third girl child in 80 per cent of the pregnancies.
The use of modern technology to determine the sex of an unborn child - and
then abort if it is found to be female - has only been popularised in the 1990s.
Apprehending misuse of sex determination tests, Indian parliament had passed a law forbidding pre-natal diagnosis for determining the sex of the unborn child. But effective implementation of this law is woefully wanting.
Foeticide occurs in a grey legal area in India, where abortion is legal.
The Pre conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) Act came into effect in 1994 and was amended in 2003.
A noted gynaecologist Dr Sharda Jain presented
some alarming facts in her keynote address on "Female Foeticide Continues Unabated: Something Urgent Needs to be Done" at the regional workshop on "Female
Foeticide/Infanticide" jointly organised by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and UNICEF.
She said that at least 50 lakh female foeticide operations are conducted every year in the country as against an official assessment of 20 lakhs cases, Dr Jain said warning that this would severely upset the gender ratio.
PGD (Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis) through in-vitro fertilisation technique would also be an area exploited to avoid a female child in the near future, she predicted.
"We are fighting tooth-and-nail to create awareness among the medical fraternity so that doctors do not collude with parents seeking sex-determination tests for the purposes of female foeticide," said
Dr. Shardha Jain.
In a show of unity, several religious leaders assembled
at New Delhi on June 24, 2006 and pledged to launch a nationwide movement for the abolition of female
foeticide. Condemning the increasing ``inhuman and shameful'' practice of female
foeticide, they said: ``At this national convention of religious leaders, we all take oath that we would use all resources at our command to propagate to the masses to shun the atrocious act of female foeticide in our country.''
The National Convention of Religious Leaders on Abolition of Female Foeticide and Infanticide was organised by the Indian Medical Association, the UNICEF and the National Commission for Women in the context of the alarming decline of female population, as indicated in the latest Census.
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Prominent religious leaders
Prominent religious leaders at the convention said female foeticide was responsible for the lowest existing sex ratio of 933 females per 1,000 males. Among the various reasons attributed to female foeticide was the dowry system. ``There should be social awakening against dowry system.''
Hindu religious leaders have decided to launch a
crusade against female foeticide in Mathura. Eminent politicians of the BJP and the Sangh Parivar, social workers and poets
are expected to attend the inaugural function scheduled for tomorrow at the
Vatsalya Gram Vrindavan here, Sadhvi Ritambhara, the chief architect of the crusade, told reporters on Monday morning.
"Female foeticide is a crime and it has nothing to do with the Hindu religion.
The crusade against it would start on December 16 here with the congregation of
saints, Shankaracharyas and social workers. Eminent politicians have also been
invited for the occasion," Ritambhara said. She claimed consents of eminent sadhus have been taken for the programmes which
will be conducted as part of the crusade. "Since female foeticide adversely affects the psyche of the woman on whom the
abortion is conducted, the sooner the evil is buried, the better it would be," she added.
Prominent religious leaders at the convention
included the Shankaracharya of Kanchi, Sri Jayendra Saraswati; Imam Maulana Abdul Aziz Jafar from New Delhi; the Jain leader, Upadhyay Guptisagarji; the Shahi Imam of Fatehpuri
Masjid, Maulana Mufti Mukarram; Ramakrishna Mission's Swami Jitatmananda, the Arya Samaj leader, Swami Agnivesh; the head priest of Delhi Parsi
Anjuman, Ervad Cawas Daraius Bagli; the vice- president of Bahai faith, Dr. A. K. Merchant, and Sadhvi Ritambara. |
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Sex Ratio & Girl Child
The Ministry of Women and Child Development is implementing the scheme of “Dhanalakshmi” as a pilot programme to provide a set of staggered
financial incentives for families to encourage them to retain the girl child. The Government has also declared 24th of January every year as a
“National Child Day” to bring to centre-stage the problems faced by the girl child and create national awareness. The Government has also taken
several measures to improve the sex ratio at birth in the country. During the 1991 Census, sex ratio in the country was 927 females per one
thousand males, which increased to 933 females per 1000 males during the 2001 census. The Government has enacted the Pre-conception and Pre-natal.
Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selections) Act, 1994 under
which stringent punishments have been prescribed for using pre-conception and pre-natal diagnostic techniques to illegally
determine sex of the foetus.
The Supreme Court issued notices
The Supreme Court of India has issued notices to the Indian government and the states and union territories on a petition seeking stricter implementation of laws that ban pre-natal
sex- selection tests and sex-selective abortions in India. A concerned Supreme Court observed that the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection)
Act 1994 (PCPNDT) that is meant to prevent female foeticide in India, has failed.
The petition brought to the court's
attention the rampant practice of sex-selective abortions in many parts of the country, with doctors indiscriminately conducting sex-determination tests and carrying out abortions because of lax implementation of the PCPNDT Act.
The discovery of a large number of female foetuses in a well at the house of a doctor in Punjab was a pointer to the
impunity with which provisions of the PCPNDT Act are being violated.
This imbalance would have serious repercussions for Indian society in future, especially on the status of women, the
petitioner said, leading to increased sexual violence, trafficking and the reduced mobility of women.
Dr Harshinder Kaur on female foeticide
Dr Harshinder Kaur, who is consultant pediatrician at Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, a crusader for
women rights and who has made a mark in the field of female foeticide . Dr Kaur’s paper presented in Geneva elucidated the status of women in India and especially Punjab. Sharing the Government of India and Punjab official data and UNICEF and WHO data, Dr Kaur highlighted the abysmal state of women in India. She declared female foeticide and
infanticide as the prime targets for official intervention. She exhorted the United Nations to donate liberally and help the poor and needy girls of Punjab on their education and for their health and to ensure that the monetary help reaches the grass root level.
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