Decreasing sex ratio in country

Smt. Krishna Tirath, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Women and Child Development in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha on March 3 shared sex-ratio (females/ males) in the Country and State-wise, as per Census 1981, 1991 and 2001indicate that sex ratio has declined from 934 (as per 1981 census) to 927 ( as per 1991 census) and has increased to 933 (as per 2001 census). The reasons for high number of incidence of female foeticide in India include a deep rooted traditional son preference, continued practice of dowry and concern for safety of the girl child and exploitation and abuse of women and girl children. In order to curb female foeticide and improve the sex ratio, Government has adopted a multi-pronged strategy which includes legislative measures, advocacy, awareness generation and programmes for socio-economic empowerment of women.

Under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Technique (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994, sex selective abortions are made punishable. The Government in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is responsible for administration of this Act and its implementation is the responsibility of the State Governments/ Union Territory Administrations. Further, foeticide is also punishable under Section 315 of Indian Penal Code (IPC), with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, or with fine, or with both. Legislations such as Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 seek to penalise the perpetrators of these social evils.

As a part of the measures taken to change the mind set of society, Government of India has been implementing on a pilot basis ‘Dhanalakshmi’, scheme for incentivising birth of the Girl Child. A number of States have been implementing their own schemes to incentivise the birth of a girl child and encourage families to place a premium on her education and development through Conditional Cash Transfer schemes.

Socio-economic empowerment of women is essential for making informed decisions and for change of the mind sets. The Government of India has undertaken a number of initiatives for this, such as Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP), The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act(MGNREGA), National Rural Livelihood Mission(NRLM) and loans through the Rashtriya Mahila Kosh. This should go a long way in empowering women and enable them to take decisions about the birth of children, their spacing, retain girl children and improve the nutritional and educational status.

To create national awareness on issues relating to girl child, in 2009, Ministry of Women and Child Development has declared January 24 as the National Girl Child Day. On this day, besides the Central Government, the State Governments/ Union Territory Administrations undertake advocacy measures to improve the status of girl child in their respective States/ Union Territories.

Meghalaya sex ratio favourable to women

Meghalaya sex ratio favours women and the number of women per thousand men in the state is higher than the national average. Meghalaya has a higher sex ratio of 972 women to 1000 men, which is greater than the national average of 933 women to 1000 men though it is lower than Kerala where 1058 women outnumber every count of 1000 men.

This was shared by Chairperson of the Meghalaya State Women Commission, Susanna K Marakfact at a recently held workshop on Rights of Girl Child and Future Implications of Imbalanced Sex Ratio. Meghalaya, indigenous communities follow a matrilineal system where equal rights are accorded to men, women and children. However worrying trend is that incidents of rape and various forms of abuses against girls have started increasing in the state.

Gender imbalance in China

In January 2010 the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) showed what can happen to a country when girl babies don’t count. Within ten years, the academy said, one in five young men would be unable to find a bride because of the dearth of young women—a figure unprecedented in a country at peace.

The number is based on the sexual discrepancy among people aged 19 and below. According to CASS, China in 2020 will have 30m-40m more men of this age than young women. For comparison, there are 23m boys below the age of 20 in Germany, France and Britain combined and around 40m American boys and young men. So within ten years, China faces the prospect of having the equivalent of the whole young male population of America, or almost twice that of Europe’s three largest countries, with little prospect of marriage, untethered to a home of their own and without the stake in society that marriage and children provide. The country's sex ratio of newborns stood at 119.45 boys to 100 girls in 2009, according to the latest figure announced by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in February. Experts have suggested more effective action against illegal pregnancy gender scans and discrimination of women so as to curb the sex ratio imbalance in China.

913 to 908 over decade: sex ratio dips in Maharashtra

Swatee Kher of Indian Express reports from Mumbai.
Maharashtra might claim to be among the most progressive states in the country, but the girl child continues to remain under threat. The latest figures available with the state government indicate that the sex ratio is 908 per 1,000 boys in the 0-6 age group, a drop from the 2001 census figure of 913 girls per 1,000 boys. The sex ratio is measured by the number of births of a girl per thousand boys in each district.

The recent figures are based on the enumeration done at anganwadi centres, where lactating mothers and children under six are provided nutrition and care. Of the 33 districts accounted for till June 2009, there are 14 districts having a sex ratio below 900 girls per 1,000 boys. Beed is the lowest with a ratio of only 848 girls per 1,000 boys. The figures in Beed have dropped from 894 to 848, in Jalgaon from 880 to 854, Aurangabad from 890 to 888 and Buldhana from 908 to 867.

Except Pune, where the figure has dropped from 902 girls to 895 girls per 1,000 boys, regions of Satara, Kolhapur and Sangli have reported an increase in sex ratio. Though the compilation does not include Mumbai figures, the data with Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation in 2008 had revealed an estimated average ratio for 2005 of 90girls per 1,000 boys.

“Maharashtra is doing better than states like Punjab; we are ranked fifth in the country. However, the recent figures are good indicators and they are a cause of worry. That is the reason we are focusing on the five districts for awareness campaign,” said Minister for Public Health Suresh Shetty. The government will launch an intensive awareness campaign in Pune, Satara, Kolhapur, Beed and Jalgaon.

The Economic Survey 2009-’10 had also expressed concern over the decline in sex ratio. “The projected sex ratio is likely to decline from the actual 922 during 2001 to 919 during 2006 and 915 during 2011, which is a matter of concern... The proportion of males is expected to increase slightly, that is 52.1 per cent during 2011 as compared to 52 per cent during 2001.” The population of the state may reach 11.27 crore during 2011.

Himachal Sex Ratio Improved : Chief Minister

As per the State’s latest evaluation Sex ratio in Himachal Pradesh has improved from 904 for 1000 males in 2008 to 922. This was said by Chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal at event organized to mark government's 'Beti Hai Anmol' programme. 'Beti Hai Anmol' is a State programme under which Rs 5,100 is deposited in the account of two baby girls from Below the poverty line families. In addition to making education free in the state, BPL girl children were also being given scholarships ranging from Rs 300 in class I to Rs 1,500 at plus two level, added the Chief Minister at the event. Seeking public support for checking female feticide, he said, "Anyone giving information on femicide or prenatal sex determination would be suitable rewarded and their identity would be kept secret'.

Haryana needs women empowerment to stop female foeticide

ANI reports that Haryana Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal said that women's empowerment was needed in the State to stop female foeticide since the State's sex ratio has dipped to 808 females for every 1,000 males.The national sex ratio is 933 females for every 1,000 males."In Haryana, it is very necessary to impart the awareness about decreasing sex ratio. There are some genetic problems also and the government is very worried about this, and regarding this we celebrated Girl Day with Bhupinder Singh Hooda Haryana Chief Minister as the chief guest. We have programmes for the same and hope that there would be improvement in the scenario," said Bhukkal.The State's Chief Medical Officer V. K. Govila said they have cracked down on clinics offering the service of pre-natal sex determination."We are trying to revive the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act (PNTD Act), raids are being made more effective. We have also cancelled one ultrasound centre and have given notices to two other centers. We have debarred the operator's of the ultrasound clinics," said Govila."In Rohtak, currently there are 808 girls for 1000 boys," he added

For all unborn daughters, a mom ready to dive

Interesting story from Chandigarh reported by Gajinder Singh in The Telegraph, Kolkata Edition

Archana Sardana, 38, wants to jump from Delhi’s TV tower in support of the girl child, but has not got permission yet. Three years ago, the mother of two had become one of India’s first women skydivers. 'I have approached the tourism and sports ministers and officials seeking permission to spread awareness against female foeticide through my sport. I want to jump from Delhi’s TV tower in Pitampura with the Indian flag and a message to allow girls to live,” she said.

Sardana, who took up skydiving after marrying a naval officer, said she wants to plead for an end to female foeticide in Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, three states with a dismal sex ratio. “My vision for Indian women is to break the glass ceiling and achieve greater heights, to prove to the world that Indian women are second to none,” she said.

Born in Jammu in 1972, Sardana completed her schooling from Srinagar and graduated with science. She also has a diploma in interior design. Encouraged by her husband and in-laws, she took the adventure, basic and advanced mountaineering courses from the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling, and the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi.

“I am even prepared to skydive on the highest drop zone in the world near Mount Everest with the Indian Tricolour to prove that girls are equal to if not better than boys. I want to demolish the myth that women cannot take up extreme adventure sports because of physical reasons,” said Sardana, who is India’s only woman base jumper (those who jump from buildings, antennas, spans and cliffs). Sardana is now scouting tall structures in India to jump from to spread her message.

“I have received assurances from many quarters on my way of spreading awareness. It is very hard to get permission as there are many agencies, from the local level to even defence related ones, involved. But I am hopeful that I will emerge victorious,” she said. That permission is not easy to get is clear from her visit to a senior bureaucrat in Delhi who advised her to shelve her plans as they amounted to committing suicide.

Sardana lamented there was no scope for civilian skydivers in India. “Apart from the defence services, there are no proper training facilities available here. I have been skydiving and jumping from buildings and cliffs in the US and Malaysia because I cannot do that here on my own,” she said, adding she sold jewellery to fund some of her training and jumps in the US. On one of her trips to that country, Sardana witnessed a large number of American women jump to spread breast cancer awareness and make a record formation in the air. Her proudest moment was to skydive with the Tricolour in California’s Perris Valley last year. Sardana has completed 238 jumps and has a “C” licence from the United States Parachute Association.

Politicians, religious leaders condemn foeticide

New Delhi April 17, 2010 - Politicians and religious leaders today came together to condemn female foeticide and launch an awareness drive against the menace. Union ministers Sushil Kumar Shinde, Sriprakash Jaiswal and Sachin Pilot were unanimous in their condemnation of the practice. They were speaking at a programme organised by Celebrate Life Peace Foundation, an organisation started by Acharya Lokesh Muni. The foundation launched a year-long programme to create awareness among people to protect girl children.

"Female foeticide is a big menace. This initiative to create awareness against it is a timely and important step," Shinde said. Jaiswal said people should not discriminate between girls and boys.

Regretting the trend of female foeticide, Pilot said such practice is against the cultural tradition of the country. Muni asked members of the foundation to create awareness against female foetice, protect women and work for peace and happiness.

Silent demonstration in Gwalior

Gwalior, Feb 20 : Hundreds of people gathered on the streets of Gwalior on Thursday to take part in a silent demonstration against female infanticide and foeticide. Holding banners with the slogans 'Save Daughters' and their mouths masked by a cloth to signify the silenced voice of the girl child, both men and women activists held hands to form a long human chain and stood in solidarity as a part of this rally. Vijay Gupta, Secretary of the Centre for Integrated Development, blamed an archaic mentality still rife in modern-day India for such trends to prevail in the society.

"In India the population of girls has been decreasing. In Madhya Pradesh, the situation is worse than the statistics on India as a whole. In Gwalior, the mentality is still of the past. India's average is 945 girls. In Gwalior there are 888 girls to every 1000 boys. The population is decreasing. Women get ultrasounds done and then have an abortion if they are expecting a girl. They don't want to have the girls, they don't want to let them live," Dr Gupta said.

According to the Indian government, 10 million girls have been killed, either before or immediately after birth, by their parents over the past couple of decades despite a law that the government enacted that bans scan tests forecasting the sex of the baby in the womb.n 1991, there were 888 females to every 1000 males in Gwalior before the figure fell to 841 in 2001.

The government has however bolstered its efforts, on a state and national level, to fight the stigma of giving birth to a girl, resulting in the number of females rising back to 888.

Haryana minister appeals people to fight against social evils

CHANDIGARH: Geeta Bhukkal, Education, Health and Social Justice & Empowerment Minister, Haryana on Sunday called upon the people to extend their wholehearted cooperation to the Government in its efforts to eradicate social evils like female foeticide.

Bhukkal, who was addressing a religious gathering at Jhajjar recently, said that the female foeticide was a blot on the fair name of our society. The social and religious organisations should come forward to educate the people about the implications of this evil. The State Government had implemented a number of schemes to raise the social status of the girl child in the society. But for awakening of the masses, no policy or programmes could be successful no matter how good it is, she added.

NCC cadets pledge to fight female foeticide

Lucknow: NCC cadets, on Monday, pledged to fight against the social evil of female foeticide. A formal pledge ceremony was organised by the 63rd UP Battalion of NCC at the Army Parade Ground wherein the cadets, officers and assistant officers pledged that they would never indulge in this heinous act of sex-selection. Not only this, they would also work against elimination of this social evil, pledged the cadets. In his address to the cadets, Commanding Officer, Major Sudhir Kshrisagar said that it was quite ironical that people worship goddess Durga, Mother Mary and Bibi Fatima and then kill unborn girls in the womb.

U'khand allocates Rs 16 cr for Nandadevi Kanya scheme

Dehradun, Jan 3 (PTI) Uttarakhand government has allocated Rs 16 crore for the Nandadevi Kanya scheme, aimed at ending the gender divide, in the current financial year, Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has said. Under the scheme, newborn girl child from Below Poverty Line families are given a fixed deposit cheque of Rs 5,000 that can be encashed when the girl attains 18 years of age, Nishank said, adding that the government has allocated Rs 16 crore for the plan.Only two girl children from each family can avail the scheme. No loans can be taken against the fixed deposit, he said.The scheme was launched to check child marriage, female foeticide and to provide women empowerment, Nishank added.

20 villages of Punjab pledge against female foeticide

Punjab, along with gurdwara committees and youth clubs of the respective villages, got together and pledged to fight against female foeticide and growing menace of drug addiction amongst youth during a seminar organised at Daad village here. The seminar was orgnised by Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle at a gurdwara, in which 20 villages falling in the vicinity of Pakhowal took part.

The village panchayats also decided to boycott the “kudimaar” (girl killer) villages, if the sex ratio in these villages was found to be skewed. They pledged that they would not marry their children in villages that killed female children in womb. “We will not make matches with boys and girls of ‘girl killer’ villages. This is our resolve,” was the punch line of sarpanch Sukhdeep Singh.

He spoke about growing cases of female foeticide in the state. “Girls are our fortune. We need to understand that,” he said adding that the city and its surrounding towns were also contributing to the menace. He added that panchayats should step in and discourage the sale of medical drugs that were sold by chemists unabatedly in villages. He also said panchayats should take a pledge to fight against drug peddling.

Punjab tops in number of female foeticide cases

New Delhi, Dec 15 (PTI) Punjab tops the list in number of female foeticide cases reported over the last three years with Rajasthan coming next. The country as a whole reported 294 cases during the same period.According to figures released by the National Crime Records Bureau, in Punjab, 81 cases were registered for female foeticide while for Rajasthan the corresponding number was 51. Madhya Pradesh registered 21 cases, Haryana 18 and Chattisgarh 24.In Rajasthan, the number of cases registered has shown a steady decline since the last three years with 25, 16 and 10 cases being registered in 2006, 2007 and 2008, Minister of State for Health Dinesh Trivedi said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha. The National Capital saw seven cases registered in 2006, four in 2007 and two in 2008.

Combating female foeticide/infanticide - Ministers reply in Rajya Sabha

To combat the practice of female foeticide and infanticide in the country through misuse of technology, done surreptitiously with the active connivance of the service providers and the persons seeking such service, the Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act was enacted on September 20, 1994 by the Government of India. The Act was amended in 2003 to improve regulation of technology capable of sex selection and to arrest the decline in the child sex ratio as revealed by the Census 2001 and with effect from 14.02.2003, due to the amendments, the Act is known as the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994. The main purpose of enacting the PC&PNDT (prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994 has been to:

i) Ban the use of sex selection techniques before or after conception

ii) Prevent the misuse of pre-natal diagnostic techniques for sex selective abortions

iii) Regulate such techniques Stringent punishments have been prescribed under the Act for using pre-conception and pre-natal diagnostic techniques to illegally determine the sex of the foetus.

The appropriate Authorities at the District and State levels are empowered to search, seize and seal the machines, equipments and records of the violators. The sale of certain diagnostic equipment is restricted only to the bodies registered under the Act.

The Government has also taken various steps to support implementation of the legislation, including through constitution of a National Inspection & Monitoring Committee (NIMC), Central and State Supervisory Boards, capacity building of implementing agencies, including the judiciary and public prosecutors and community awareness generation through PRIs and community health workers such as Auxiliary Nursing Midwives (ANMs) and Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs). The Census 2001 figures reveal that the child sex ration for the age group of 0-6 years is comparatively lower in Pubjab (798), Haryana (819), Chandigarh (845), Delhi (868), Gujarat (883), Himachal Pradesh (896) and Rajasthan (909) as compared to the national average pf 927 girls per thousand boys. Though there is no established causal relationship between adverse sex ratio and spurt in cases of sex related crimes, this could be one of the factors resulting in some forms of violence against women. This information was given by Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Shri Dinesh Trivedi in written reply to a question raised in Rajya Sabha today.

Raksha Bandhan with a difference

The Hindu
AHMEDABAD: It was a “Raksha Bandhan” celebration with a difference. The tradition of sisters tying “rakhis” on the hands of brothers was reversed. Instead, the boys did that for the girls.
For about 700 boys and girls, students of the local H. K. Arts College, it was a symbol of their vow to stop female foeticide. In fact, the original theme of the Raksha Bandhan in north India was of the brothers protecting the sisters. But it eventually gave way to the sisters tying rakhi, praying for happiness and long life for the brothers. In a way, the Ahmedabad college students have returned to the original theme.

A first
Professor Gaurang Jani, who conceived the idea of reverse raksha bandhan, said it was perhaps the first time anywhere in the country that the boys tied the rakhi on girls. “The event was organised to educate the men of the dangers of female foeticide and the need to protect the girl child,” he said. The Women’s Development Cell of the college organised the event with the support of a local voluntary organisation. And the students participated whole-heartedly.
Considering the alarming decrease in the sex ratio in the country, particularly in some states like Gujarat where it is less than 830 per 1,000 males, the idea is worth emulating.

Powerful camapign on female foeticide launched in Punjab

Ludhiana: In an effort to give voice to the unborn girl child,activists in Punjab have launched a powerful campaign against female foeticide that includes inviting people for an ‘Antim ardas’, or last rites. “I am daughter of India. I am like your daughters who are playing in your premises, who are bringing laurels to the nation like Sunita Williams, Kiran Bedi, Kalpana Chawla, Sania Mirza etc. But there is difference between me and all of you as I have been killed in the womb of my mother itself,” read the invite from the Universal Public Service Organisation (UPSO,a an NGO leading this campaign.

The invitation to the ‘Antim ardas’ at a gurdwara could perhaps qualify to be the most powerful message against female foeticide in a state. In first Ardas over 400 people came for the prayer meeting held by the NGO at the Gurdwara Guru Nanak Darbar in Daba village. They plan to take this further and will be going to Hardwar (In Uttarakhand) and Kiratpur Sahib (in Punjab's Ropar district) for performing the final rites of Punjab's unborn daughters. At the ceremony, touching poems against female foeticide, the plight of the girl child and stories from holy scriptures were told to the gathering to drive home the point.

Better sex ratio to get DMs awards

Times of India

To correct the skewed sex ratio, the women and child development ministry is planning to institute awards for district magistrates who improve sex ratio in their districts.

The ministry is also embarking on a massive national level awareness and sensitisation programme on a sustained basis to check female foeticide. Non-government organisations, media, entertainment industry, spiritual leaders, medical fraternity and youth will be involved in a big way as agents of social change in the campaign. WCD minister Renuka Chowdhury said pre-natal sex determination and female foeticide was more prevalent in urban, educated and prosperous classes.

"Female foeticide is an extreme manifestation of violence against women. Female foetuses are selectively aborted. As a result, about 10 lakh girls are missing from the Indian population," she said.

Female infanticide: Stop barbaric practice

Prashant Mukherjee


A young mother had to poison her baby because it was a girl. It’s high time we end this barbaric practice. Now is the time to energise efforts to put gender equality at the top of international peace and development agenda.

LAKSHMI HAD a daughter, so when she gave birth to a second girl, she killed her. For the three days of her second child’s short span of life, Lakshmi admits, she refused to nurse her. To silence the infants famished cries, the impoverished village women squeezed the milky sap from an coriander shrub, mixed it with castor oil and propel the poisonous potion down the newborn’s throat. The baby bled from the nose then died soon afterwards. Female neighbours sympathised with Lakshmi and in the same circumstances, some would probably have done what she did.

When you look around this audience and see so many distinguished and accomplished ladies from all corners of the globe, it would be easy to think that this challenge has been overcome. But we all know of course, from our own country and our own experience that this is not the case.

When we celebrate progress, we know that it has been too slow. More than 50 yrs of independence, it is still a women’s face we see when we speak of poverty, of HIV/AIDS, of violent conflicts and social upheaval.

The case tells us where we are today but more importantly provides a route map for the future. By providing a comparative analysis, it allows us to learn from the experiences of countries that have had greater success.

Let us assert once again that each women and girl is a unique and at the same time valuable human being, who is entitled to equal opportunities and universally adopted human rights, no matter where she is born or where she lives.

Now is the time to energise efforts to put gender equality at the top of international peace and development agenda.

Source - www.merinews.com

'Affluent families indulge in female foeticide'

Sreeparna Chakrabarty in New Delhi

Affluent families in posh areas of the country's metropolises are routinely indulging in female foeticide to fulfill their quest for a male child, according to latest government figures.

Providing proof that high levels of literacy and per capita incomes have no bearing on the mindset of people in the posh areas of Delhi and Mumbai, recent government figures show that in high-income South Delhi, the sex-ratio was 762, while in Mumbai's Borivali it was 728 and 887 in Goregaon and Andheri West.

"It can now be safely accepted that high-income families with increased access to techniques of sex determination are the ones which are going in for selective abortions rather than the low-income group areas," according to a senior health ministry official.

To counter this, the government was working on a strategy to crack down on mushrooming ultrasound clinics in these areas.

"We are trying to put in a system of accountability for such clinics," a senior Health Ministry official said.

Social activists, however, find fault with the government's strategy of cracking down on the clinics, saying it focuses only on the registration of the number of ultrasounds and not on the actual act of abortions of female foetuses.

"Only 406 violations of the Act have been registered and two doctors have been punished so far," a women's activist and member of the Health Ministry's Advisory committee on Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act told PTI.

"The government's performance has been lackluster in this field," she added.

Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss had recently advocated life sentence as a punishment for those taking recourse to such measures, but a high-level committee to suggest amendments to the PNDT Act to give it more teeth recommended enhancing of the prison term and increase in monetary penalty.

The punishment for such crimes, which was an imprisonment of around 2-5 years till now, has been recommended to be increased to around 5-7 years and the fine raised to at least Rs five lakh.

Ramadoss has time and again expressed his helplessness in implementing the existing laws citing non-cooperation from the states.

The government will hold another round of meeting of the advisory committee in February following which the amendments would be sent to the Parliament for ratification

source rediff.news