Is judiciary serious about checking female foeticide?

The judiciary in India will observe 2007 as the Awareness Year of Female Foeticide and will deal in a strict manner with those responsible for this crime, former Chief Justice Y.K. Sabharwal had declared while delivering his presidential address at a state-level seminar on 'Eradication of Female Foeticide', jointly organised by the Punjab Department of Health and Family Welfare and Punjab Legal Services Authority.

The law can play an important role in checking this menace of female feticide, he added. Warning the medical fraternity, he said there ought to be stricter control over clinics that offer to identify the sex of a foetus and a stronger check on abortions to ensure that these are not performed for the wrong reasons. Doctors must also be sensitised and strong punitive measures must be taken against those who violate the law, he asserted.

It will be interesting to investigate how the judiciary at different levels heeds the exhortations of the highest in the judiciary. The case in this instance cited below refers to Morena in Madhya Pradesh, one of the very few districts in the country where this issue has been vigorously perused and a game of snakes and ladder is being played out.

A team of district officials did a door-to-door survey in a village and came up with an alarmingly adverse child sex ratio. When this was discussed with the villagers in the evening, they not only accepted the figures but also openly disclosed the fact of sex determination through sonography and termination thereafter in case of a female child and also the names of the nursing homes they visited for sex determination.

Discussions were undertaken with the medical fraternity in the district with a view to discouraging sex determination and so that the district authorities would not permit this heinous practice. However, there was no visible change in the attitude of doctors, therefore the records of nine centres registered under the Act were seized.

These records were scrutinised and it was observed that non-compliance with the maintenance of mandated records was very common at the registered centres. The laxity was more prominent with the Form F requirement. Through this form only the following vital information can be obtained:

(1) Number of children with sex of each child.
(2) Purpose for which ultrasound was done during pregnancy.
(3) Result of ultrasonography - if any abnormality detected.
(4) Was MTP advised/conducted? - Date on which MTP carried out.
(5) Declaration of doctor that while conducting ultrasonography, he has neither detected nor disclosed the sex of her foetus to anybody in any manner.
(6) Declaration of the pregnant woman that by undergoing ultrasonography, she does not want to know the sex of the foetus.

After a scrutiny of the records, the appropriate authority, the chief medical and health officer, issued show cause notices and finally cancelled seven registrations. In the instance of one centre, which was operating two machines in two different locations with one registration, a case was submitted before the chief judicial magistrate. No discernible result in this case could be seen till date.

All the seven nursing homes/ultrasound centres appealed against the cancellation in the month of June 2005, much after the prescribed duration. The State Appellant Authority condoned the delay in all the cases, and decided all the seven cases on the same date of June 10, 2005 giving almost identical reasons for accepting the appeal and quashing the order of the appropriate authority even though the merits and grounds were different in all the cases.

The Appellate Authority, while admitting that Form 'F' was not maintained by these centres and also that records for the last two years were not maintained, observed that 'although there is no clear evidence of maintaining all the prescribed records as envisaged under section 4(3) and rule 9 of the Act, but looking to the records made available, it does not amount to a gross irregularity to cancel the registration of the appellant'.

This order of the state Appellate Authority was challenged by two NGOs namely 'Prayatn' and 'Dharti Gram Utthan', which work in Morena on this issue, by filing a public interest litigation (PIL) in the high court of Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior bench.

The petitioners argued that the erroneously called such violation a 'mere irregularity' and felt that if the reasoning given by the state Appellate Authority were accepted, it would result in total non-implementation of the Act and rules against female foeticide resulting in a further decline of the sex ratio in Morena district.

This petition was admitted for final hearing and the operation of the impugned order of the state Appellate Authority was stayed. In the meantime, the court directed that all the chief medical and health officers (CMHOs) and district collectors of Morena, Guna, Shivpuri, Ashok Nagar, Vidisha, Datia, Sheopur, Bhind and Gwalior make a survey and inspect all the nursing homes as well as the laboratories and centres where the ultrasound machines were being used.
They would have to verify that in such nursing homes and the laboratories/centres appropriate measures were being adopted to restrain, avoid and prohibit the sex determination and sex selection process. They would have to survey all the towns of the district where these machines were being used and submit the report before the court. They would also have to suggest the effective measures to prohibit and prevent such kind of determination.

The state was also directed to seek a report from the Morena collector about the status of involvement of respondents whose licenses were cancelled, whether they were involved in the cases of sex selection and sex determination at the pre- conception and pre-natal stage.
On Dec 13, 2006, five respondents filed applications and contended that they had applied for permission to run the ultrasound machines, as they were not involved in pre-natal sex determination, although the CMHO of Morena submitted that the owners of these machines were not furnishing proper information in proper format.

The court directed that in view of this fact, the respondents would be permitted to run their ultrasound machines but made it clear that they would have to furnish regular information as required under PNDT Act of 1994 and the rules framed there under. It said the competent authority would also have the liberty to supervise and make proper checks of the machines and take action in case any breach was found against them as per the Act and the Rules. A very obvious question stares in our face on these two different approaches to the ultrasound centres, particularly in view of the chief justice's statement. Is the judiciary really very serious about the problem of abuse of sonography and the resultant grave gender imbalance? Certainly, a doubt lurks in the mind that the judiciary may take this as a routine social legislation and leave it to time to get sorted out.

(Dr Manohar Agnani is an IAS officer of MP cadre. He can be reached at manooagnani@yahoo.com)
© 2007 Indo-Asian News Service

Girl Child is still a curse word

Outlook, April 16, 2007

Nothing bridges our urban-rural divide better than the preference for sons, even in this new century

Teesta Setalvad

DISAPPEARING DAUGHTERS— THE TRAGEDY OF FEMALE FOETICIDE
by Gita AravamudamPenguinPages: 208; Rs: 250

Indian civilisation’s claim to abiding greatness and enduring values could stand severely tested with its systematic mass murder of unborn girl babies. An obsession with sons from the age of Atharva Veda ("Let a female child be born somewhere else. Here let a son be born") and lawgiver Manu’s treatise, legitimised through tradition and belief, has percolated down to 21st century India. Ironically, Pakistan, with its basis of an ‘Islamic’ reality, does not do much better—the sex ratio there is 938 girls for every 1,000 boys.

Delhi leads the way with a record 24,000 girls missing every year. Prosperous urban areas like Chandigarh, Sangli and Mehsana follow suit, playing role models to impoverished rural Bharat. Jeans-clad, pub-trotting, mangalsutra-wedded couples share one value with men who sport phetas (turbans) and women who demurely shield their face with the ghunghat. This shared value, an all-consuming preference for sons, spans the urban-rural divide and cuts across shameful disparities in consumption patterns and nutrition levels and translates into girl baby murder.

Until the ’70s, son preference led families, mothers included, to neglect their girl babies, and in some notorious districts of Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan, to actually facilitate their killing after birth. It takes an Angelina Jolie to remind us that we have no comparable image of a celeb adopting a really black child.

Figures of pre-Independence British India reveal low sex ratios of the girl child, leading the British to enact laws that were later repealed. However, the technology revolution in medical research offered pre-birth sex selection techniques—amniocentesis, ultrasound and scan machines—making doctors willing partners in crime. It also raised questions about the ethics and conduct of professional bodies, like the Indian Medical Association. Disappearing Daughters is a must-read for teachers, students, parents, political leaders and, especially, doctors. Lucidly written, it traces through absorbing case studies and relevant data the tragedy of Indians killing their girls en masse.

India, poised on what we are told is a growth boom, is being torn apart from within. The brutal political, social and economic exclusions and denials driven by caste continue to make The Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, toothless. The law against the giving and taking of dowry has not lessened the practice. In fact, there has been an increase in the scale of dowry that commodifies both the woman and the relationship. Is it any surprise then that the 1994 PNDT Act (Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) has failed to punish the powerful perpetrators of the crime?

A possible reason, rarely explored in public debate (much less by our omnipresent media), is the values of our opinion-makers and celebrities. We seem to be caught in a nowhere land. We wear the latest designer labels, spend oodles of money, travel on jet planes, sport Blackberry mobiles. Yet, modernity ends there. Domestic violence is a reality among our preening classes. It takes an Angelina Jolie to remind us that we have no comparable image of a celebrity adopting a really black or even a robustly brown child.

Political campaigns and election manifestoes rarely speak about social reform; weddings at which crores of rupees are spent do not attract the gaze of tax officers; dowry for an IAS officer runs into crores in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, we are told. Meanwhile, what do our politicians have to say about the sweeping son preference that leads us to murder?

Missing Girlsby Manohar Agnani/ Books For Change/ 153 pages/ Rs 180

Missing Girls by Dr Manohar Agnani, an IAS officer, offers extensive data with suggestions for more effective implementation of the law. In order to implement the PNDT Act, we need active monitoring of birth ratios, fixing responsibility, getting the appropriate authorities to function effectively, to set up central and district advisory committees and get detailed medical audits of all ultrasound examinations carried out by registered clinics, sales-purchase records of ultrasound machines and to make these records public. Many state governments have shown a reluctance to do this, despite stringent remarks of the apex court (on a PIL filed by civil rights groups).

Flexible government policy coupled with grassroot efforts has had some impact, even in those districts of Tamil Nadu where girls were killed after birth. Sustained social campaigns, a few financial incentives, scholarships, self-help groups for women and other administrative measures outlined under the new legislation made a remarkable difference in a few areas. But it’s only a silver lining. The big change will come when we stop this conspiracy of silence.

Haryana's sex ratio changes drastically as efforts pay off

Gulf News, By Ajay JhaChief, Correspondent

New Delhi: The skewed sex-ratio in Haryana has changed drastically with girls outnumbering boys in many parts of the state now. A state government survey has thrown up the heartening news that stringent implementation of various laws and better awareness has helped increase the number of girl child during the past five years. The 2001 census had put Haryana on the alert as it had emerged as one of the states with the worst sex ratio with 861 females for 1,000 males. The situation had become so bad that people in many villages, particularly in Jat-community-dominated areas, had started looking for brides for their eligible youngsters from tribal areas of Jharkhand and Orissa.

Successive state governments since have taken various measures. Besides coming down heavily on private clinics doing sex determination tests that was attributed to the rising incidents of female foeticide, the state administration announced monetary incentives to parents giving birth to girl child, free education and government help in the form of cash at the time of their marriage. Findings of the survey conducted across 25 villages have surprised many. Most of these villages now have more girls compared to boys in the age group 0-6 years. While girls outnumber boys in this age group in Bhiwani district, the ratio that stood at 871 female for 1,000 male in Hisar district in 2001 has increased by 7 per cent with the figure standing at 901 female for 1,000 male.

The situation has changed even in urban areas of the state with girl child outnumbering boys in several towns. According to a Haryana government spokesman here, the provincial government is now planning to have similar surveys conducted in the entire state. Continuing with the carrot and stick policy (rewarding those having more than one daughter and punishing those indulging in female foeticide) and giving wider publicity to achievements of these villages are going to be part of the government policy.

Female foeticide 'blot on society': Child Welfare Council

Rohtak (Haryana), March 25 (PTI): Terming female foeticide as a "blot on society", the Deputy Chairperson of Haryana Child Welfare Council, Asha Hooda, today called upon the people to deal with the problem of the declining sex ratio in the state.

Addressing a National Seminar on "Sex Ratio: Problems and Challenges" organised by Institute of Development Study, Maharishi Dayanand University here, she stressed the need to ascertain the reason for decline in sex ratio and find out means to check the menace.

"Female foeticide is a blot on society. A social campaign should be launched against it with the active participation of all sections," the wife of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said.

Referring to the PNDT Act, she said that it had been enacted to check female foeticide, but it could not be very effective "if doctors themselves were hand in glove with the culprits" and called upon the medical community to "boycott" such doctors.

The Central Planning Commission member Sayeeda Hamid said women should raise their voice against domestic violence and strongly advocated the implementation of Domestic Violence Act.

Foeticide issue continues to rock Rajasthan

Jaipur, March 23 (IANS) Increasing instances of female foeticide continue to rock Rajasthan despite the state government's claim that is has taken stern action to stop the criminal practice.
According to reports, three female foetuses were found Tuesday -- one in Alwar and the other two in Ajmer.
"We found three foetuses in a toilet near a children's hospital in Alwar. Out of these, one was a fully developed foetus of a female while the sex of the remaining two could not be determined as these were in premature stage," a police official from Alwar told IANS over phone Friday.
In Ajmer, one female foetus was found behind bushes in Ghugra village and another recovered from a drain near a bus stand in the town.
Police said they were interrogating a number of people to ascertain where the foetuses came from.
A sting operation by a private television channel last year had exposed the increasing female foeticide cases in four states -- Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
The operation had showed various doctors in different parts of these states convincing and encouraging many would-be-parents to go for female foeticide.
According to the 2001 census, the sex ratio in Rajasthan stands poorly at 922 females per 1,000 males.
Meanwhile, the government is expected to come up with a bill seeking direct control over all private hospitals, nursing homes and diagnostic centres in the state following complaints of excessive charges for treatment, negligence in treatment and increasing incidence of foeticide by private health clinics.

Judiciary to play important role against social evils

Gagandeep Ahuja
Punjabnewsline.com, March 13, 2007

PATIALA: The judiciary is going to take strongest measures for the eradication of the social evil of female foeticide as if not check in time than it will create a social imbalance because of the increasing male-female ratio in the society. This was stated by the additional district and sessions judge, Bhupinder Singh while delivering his presidential address in a seminar here on Monday to celebrate the national legal aid week for women.

The seminar was being organized by the district legal services authority, Patiala in collaboration with all India human rights association, Patiala unit as per the directions of national legal services authority, New Delhi and the guidance of justice M.M.Kumar, Judge, Punjab and Haryana high court, Chandigarh as well as the district and sessions judge, Patiala cum chairman, district legal services authority, Patiala, Inderjit Singh Walia. The seminar was organized in the auditorium of the government medical college here. The seminar was also attended among others by K.K.Kareer, civil judge (senior division)-cum- secretary, district legal services authority, Patiala, Lt.col.(Retd.)Bishan Dass, district chief all India human rights association, Patiala, Brig. (Retd.) D.S.Grewal, Satinder Kaur, Suman Batra (social workers) and Dr Sarita Aggarwal and many others.

While delivering his presidential address on this occasion Bhupinder singh also elaborated the various enactments which have been brought forth by the constitution and other laws to protect the rights of the women. He also stressed that female foeticide is required to be curbed at every cost and said that the judiciary is going to take strict measures against it with a view to save the society from this social evil. He also warned the doctors to be careful in future as they would not be able to escape the net of law and would be treated like any other criminals if they are caught violating the provisions of the PNDT Act. He also held responsible the literate class in comparison to illiterates for encouraging the female foeticide as the cases of the femicide were generally reported from urban areas instead of the rural areas. He also exhorted the women class to come forward to protect their own rights under the provisions of the constitution. He said that the constitution has provided them right of equality in their parental property too.
On the other hand secretary of the district legal services authority-cum-civil judge (senior division), K.K.Kareer while speaking on this occasion also exhorted every body to join hands for the proper implementation of the laws enacted for the social security of women and added this is possible only with a changed mind set. He said that illiteracy is the root cause for the awarness among the women for their rights as per the data only 39 per cent women in the country were literate and asked the women to increase their number in the literacy race. Whereas the district chief of the all India human rights association,Patiala unit, Lt.Col (Retd.) Bishan Dass in his address while feeling sorry for the plight of the women exhorted the younger generation to come forward for the proper eradication of the social evils from the country for the creation of a prosperous society.

Decreasing Sex Ratio and Pregnant Women's Attitude Towards Female Foeticide

Discussion article - The purpose to put this article on blog was to make available the relevant information in public domain and to invoke discussions on its findings..

Nursing Journal of India, Apr 2005 by Sarna, Kamla

A descriptive study to assess the knowledge about decreasing sex ratio and attitude towards female foeticide of pregnant women attending antenatal OPD in a selected hospital in Ludhiana, Punjab. The Constitution of India guarantees equality to women. It empowers the states to adopt measures for affirmative discrimination in favor of women and also impose a fundamental duty on its citizens to uphold the dignity of women but despite all this, India's deep rooted "sons only" ethos continues and girls and women face inequity and inequality everywhere. They are devalued as human beings from the day they are born. But what is worse is that they are even denied the right to be born, if their families do not wish them to be born.

New developments in medical technology have helped to improve health care for millions of people. One cheap and widely available test can determine the sex of the child. There is gross misuse of reproductive technology in a society characterized by a strong bias against a female child. The census report of 2001 presents a grim reality indicating an imbalance in the ratio of female and male. It is a common fact that the sex ratio in India is lower than international standards i.e. sex ratio in India is 933 while the world average is 986 (Dutta, 2001 ).
Number of causes are responsible for the continuous decline in the sex ratio e.g. poverty, illiteracy, culture and preference for male child etc. The discrepancy in the sex ratio in the lowest age group is found in most prosperous areas of IndiaPunjab, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana and Chandigarh. All these states have sex ratio of less than 900 females to 1000 males below the age of six.

The declining sex ratio could result in a demographic and social disaster. In such a situation it is the primary duty of the health professionals to provide proper information to the general public about the declining sex ratio and its affects in India. The present study was undertaken in order to determine to what extent the pregnant women are oriented to the actual problem of declining sex ratio and also to ascertain their attitude towards female foeticide.

Objectives of the Study

1. To assess the knowledge of pregnant women about decreasing sex ratio.
2. To assess the attitude of pregnant women towards female foeticide.
3. To find out the relationship of attitude of pregnant women towards female foeticide with variables i.e. age, education, religion, occupation, married for years, family income, type of family, residence and source of information etc.

Materials and Methods

A descriptive study approach was used to conduct the study, which was conducted in Antenatal OPD of Christian Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana. Purposive random sampling technique was used for selection of sample. The population consisted of 50 pregnant women attending OPD. The time period of study was from 1.6.2002 to 15.7.2002. The technique and methods used were structured questionnaire was developed based on review of literature. It ' consisted of three parts.

The first part consisted of items for obtaining personal information about age, education, religion, occupation, married for years, family income, and type of family and source of information. The second part consisted of statements to find our knowledge of clients about sex ratio, decreasing ratio, causes of declining sex ratio and affects and problems related to female foeticide. The statements were developed for the respondents to respond on 'Yes' or 'No' or 'Do not know' basis. Each correct response was given one score and wrong response was not given any score. Hence maximum score was 20 for twenty statements and minimum score was zero.
Assessing the attitude is an important aspect because attitude , may differ from individual to individual; attitude is concerned with the beliefs, interests, ideas of person and also to the behavior of the person. The third part deals with the statements regarding assessment of attitude of pregnant women towards female foeticide. The statements were developed for the respondents to respond on five point Likert scale i.e. strongly agree, , agree, undecided, disagree and strongly disagree. There were total 20 statements, which include 10 negative and 10 positive statements. For positive statements, the responses qualified by giving score as SA - 5, agree -4, U-3, DA - 2, SDA- 1. Negative statements scored reversely. Hence maximum score was 100 and minimum score 20.

Findings and Discussions

Sample Characteristics:
Majority of the clients were in the age group of 21-30 years (72%) followed by 24% in the age group of 3 1 -40( years and only 4% above 40 years. 48% of them were the academic qualification of plus two and above, 30% were illiterate and 22% had passed 10th class. Most of women were Hindus (48%), followed by Sikhs 32%, Christians 14% and Muslims only 6%. Majority of women (76%), were housewives and 24% were professionals. Maximum number of women (66%) were married for 1-9 years, 30% of women married for 10-19 years and 4% married for more than 20 years. 54% of them were having family income 5001-10000, 36% had income less than 5000 and only 10% were with income more than 10,000. Most of women (72%) resided in urban area and 28% belonged to rural areas. For 62% source of information was mass media (TV, newspapers and radio etc.) and 38% got information from rela-tives.

Concern over female foeticide

The Hindu, March 10, 2007

''Female foeticide remains the gravest of all issues concerning women "Every night in a hospital, a girl child is aborted in silence"

NEW DELHI: Even as the country celebrated the spirit of women on International Women's Day on Thursday, female foeticide remains the gravest of all the issues concerning women and education of girl child also needs urgent attention. As women on all continents -- divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, linguistic and cultural differences -- came together to celebrate the day, organisations working for women emancipation across the country hoped that every woman would be actively involved in raising awareness about issues concerning them and work for building confidence among Dalit and Adivasi women.

According to Centre for Social Research (CSR) Director Ranjana Kumari, every night in a hospital, a girl child is aborted in silence. "This is a state of emergency and protecting the girl child is the need of the hour." Dr. Kumari also called for a comprehensive policy to ensure universal access to healthcare and security for the elderly population, especially aged women. "Several researchers suggest that women live longer than men. It is important that policies are also formulated for the elderly keeping the gender dimension in mind," added Dr. Kumari. As women struggle to participate in society on an equal footing with men, women's groups are gearing up to address the grave problem of dismal care that women receive .

Infanticide a frightening reality in MP

NDTV, Rubina Khan ShapooThursday, March 8, 2007 (Shivpuri):

In Madhya Pradesh a determined effort to cut down on female infanticide has thrown up some shocking details.The child sex ratio in the Chambal district has dropped drastically from 2001 and sex determination tests and infanticide remain a frightening reality.Its mandatory for clinics to inform visitors that sex determination is illegal but behind the walls the law is often broken.Two private practitioners in Shivpuri are on the run because a medical audit established that they practised sex selection and abortion of female fetuses.It followed a high court order to implement the PNDT act in 11 districts in Chambal division since they had the worst sex ratio in the state.Shocking statisticsThe administration first ordered a door-to-door survey of children between zero to six in December 2006. The statistics were shocking.

The child sex ratio had dipped sharply from 904 girls per 1000 boys in 2001 to 846 girls per 1000 boys in 2006. Under the PNDT Act all diagnostic centers must have detailed medical records of all pregnant women getting an ultrasound done.Nearly hundred health workers and a local NGO painstakingly examined 7148 forms collected from three private diagnostic centers.Though many forms had anomalies, only two cases clearly established that the mother had undergone a sex determination test during 13th - 15th week of pregnancy and then had an abortion.In both cases the link was clear between the two doctors. Dr Anita Verma had asked for the ultrasound, and Dr Bansal, a radiologist had performed them."We made both the doctors party to the crime and we filed an action against them under the PNDT act in the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court," said Dinesh Kaushal, CMMHO, Appropriate Authority, PNDT Act.Medical records examined.

For the first time in India doctors are being held accountable on the basis of a very scientific census based on door-to-door survey and thorough examination of medical records."We wanted to send clear message that yes the act has enough powers, we feel it is a mile stone," said Manohar Agnani, the Collector.Meanwhile the lawyers of the absconding doctors refused to talk on camera. The session court has denied bail to the two doctors. Now the matter is in high court.This attempt to nab the guilty doctors based on medical audit is perhaps the first of its kind in India.It can easily be a model for others to follow in their battle against female foeticide. A much needed attempt to save the girl child.

Girls Pay Price for India's Preference for Boys

Voice of America - By Steve Herman New Delhi 05 March 2007

In India - the world's second most populous nation (after China) - there is a shortage of girls. A large part of the problem is a perception that girls are a financial burden. This preference for boys has led to the abortion of millions of female fetuses, or in some cases, even the murder of girl babies. VOA's Steve Herman in New Delhi reports.

Indian school girls (file photo)The girls of India are disappearing. On average there are only about 930 girls for every 1,000 boys. Boys tend to be preferred because they carry on the family name. But families here also fear the financial burden of girls - when it comes time to pay huge traditional dowries to their daughters' future husbands upon marriage. Sabu George, an academic and activist, says modern medicine makes it possible for Indian couples to now know the sex of their child before it is born.

"In our country ultrasound is becoming a weapon of mass destruction. Instead of saving lives, what we are finding is that millions and millions of girls are being eliminated before birth," she said. Using ultrasound tests to determine a fetus's gender is illegal in India. But Corinne Woods of the U.N. Children's Fund says that has hardly stopped the practice.
"What's known is that act is being flouted. You go in for an ultrasound and you're handed a pink candy or a blue candy," she said.

Woods says the pink candy is frequently the signal to request an abortion - especially among India's middle and upper classes, where activist Sabu George sees even more discrimination against women than among the lowest classes. "Improved socio-economic status of women seems to be becoming very, very anti-girl. In part because the most educated families have the least number of children and the smallest number of children are obtained by eliminating girls," George said.

Woman looks on during rally against female focticide in New Delhi (file photo)Researchers say one out of every 25 female fetuses in India is aborted - an estimated half million a year.
Parents who cannot afford expensive tests may take matters into their own hands. In some rural areas girl babies have been reported to be killed immediately after birth - strangled, suffocated or buried alive. And, often, girls who survive infancy die quite young activists say because they are given less food and medical care than their brothers. Those who do survive will generally get less of an education - in both quality and quantity - than the boys in the family.
Corinne Woods at UNICEF says her organization and others hope to replicate the success they have had with educating villagers about malnutrition to get them to change their attitudes about girls.

"Creating a culture at the village level of the value of girls is key," she said. "And also creating a culture whereby the women's group in the village is saying 'don't do this.' So it's peer pressure."
In the central Indian city of Bhopal a gynecologist and janitor at a hospital were arrested recently following the discovery in a pit behind the medical facility of the remains of an estimated 400 female fetuses and newborn babies. India's government is proposing to set up orphanages to raise unwanted girls, hoping that will cut down on the number of abortions and infanticides. But some experts express little hope, saying the idea has been tried before and in many of the orphanages the girls suffered terrible neglect.

Researcher Sabu George predicts that despite political and legal measures, attitude changes will be slow in coming. "As long as this indifference continues our numbers of missing girls will continue to increase. And in the next 10 years we are very likely to exceed China in terms of having the country with the largest number of girls eliminated before birth," George said.
Social scientists are ringing the alarm about the long-term ramifications. They say history has shown societies with a surplus of young men who have no hope of marriage suffer from instability and surges in crime and violence.

Say no to female foeticide

July 1 will be Girl Child Day in Vadodara

Express New Service, Vadodara, February 20

VADODARA-based Dr Prakash Desai has been appointed as the president of Federation of Obstetrics & Gynecological Societies of India (FOGSI). Dr Desai said that July 1, also the birthday of late astronaut Kalpana Chawla, would be observed as Girl Child Day, wherein doctors will be sensitised on the issue of female foeticide. Dr Desai, who is an associate professor at Baroda Medical College's gynaecology department, was appointed as president of FOGSI, which is the world's largest organisation in the field.

"Obstetricians in the country have been blamed excessively for elimination of unborn female foetuses. My team has started attacking the menace of female foeticide," said Dr Desai.
The organisation has chosen 'Say No to Female Foeticide' as its slogan this year, and designated the birthday of Kalpana Chawla on July 1 as Girl-Child Day. On this day, obstetricians across the country will take an oath that they will not indulge in any activity that can reveal the sex of the unborn child or terminate a pregnancy where the sex of the child is revealed by someone else.
Besides this, all through out the year public rallies, public meetings and programmes against female feticide have been organised throughout the country. "FOGSI has already passed resolutions condemning these acts and we are now taking it forward. It is for the first time that obstetricians themselves are coming out so conspicuously and openly against prenatal sex determination and termination of such pregnancies," claimed Dr Desai.

Patiala children hold march against female foeticide

Punjab newsonline, GAGANDEEP AHUJA
Wednesday, 21 February 2007

PATIALA: In order to create awareness against the evil practice of ' Female Foeticide', a march by school children was organised by Tikana Bhai Ram Kishan Sherran Wala Gate in cooperation with Global Punjab Foundation here on Wednesday.

Addressing the rally at Nehru Garden, R K Verma, Deputy Commissioner, praised the continuous efforts of Mahant Chamkaur Singh through his ' Foetus Protection and Child Care Centre' and Global Punjab Foundation in this direction. He however assured every possible administrative help to such organisations. Our children are our states future so they should be protected at every cost, added he.

Dr Harjinder Walia, Chairman of the Foundation suggested that schemes like 'Paalan and Pangurra' will certainly help in getting rid of such malpractices prevalent in our society. He has called the women to come forward and raise their voice against it. Mahant Chamkaur Singh, Chief of Foetus Protection Centre stated that female foeticide has been called as a great sin even by our Gurbani and need of the hour is to remove it from our society.

Deputy Commissioner flagged off the march from Nehru Garden which ended at Serran Wala Gate. About 1000 children took part in it carrying mottos and dolls with them. Pran Sabharwal, Director NATAS, Prof J K Miglani, Sanjay Kumar and Raminderjit Singh Wasu were also present on the occasion.

Campaign against female foeticide in Punjab

Press Trust of India, Jalandhar, February 24, 2007

Expressing concern over sharp decline of female sex ratio in Punjab, United National Population Fund (UNPF) in association with Art of Living Foundation would launch a 'Yatra' to raise awareness on the issue.

"Beti Sneh Sanjivni Yatra would educate people against the menace of female feticide," Richa Chopra of the Art of Living Foundation told reporters in Jalandhar. Activists of the Foundation would participate in the Yatra, which would begin from Talwandi Sabo on March 26 and culminate at Anandpur Sahib on April 13, she said.The campaign would be carrying the message of saving the "girl child" and refraining from female foeticide through posters, banners, hoardings and placards, she said.

Participants in the Yatra would walk through markets, residential areas of the city and end at the Satsang venue of every district. Religious gurus of Art of Living Foundation and other spiritual orders would also participate in the Yatra, she added.

Ultrasound technoloy boon or bane ?

By Manohar Agnani

A recent newspaper article reported that a brain dead pregnant woman on life support had passed the milestone in her pregnancy where doctors believed her baby could survive outside the womb, giving her family new hope. The family spokesperson said the baby is a girl and that Cecilia was a possible name the couple had discussed before her stroke.

As with all knowledge, ethical aspects have assumed an important criterion in the use and abuse of emerging technology. There have been regulatory procedures to limit the misuse of technology but rapid advances often make the regulatory process redundant. It is therefore necessary to periodically review such regulations. One such technology that needs to be examined is ultrasound. The ethical questions involved here are as grave as the questions weighed in the field of human cloning. The value of ultrasonography in healthcare facilities weighs heavily on its multi-functionality. It produces live images of muscle and soft tissue, enabling doctors to select the most useful sections for diagnosing and documenting changes. It shows the structure and function of internal organs and is a useful way to examine the musculoskeletal system to detect problems with muscles, ligaments, and joints. It also assists in identifying blockages, stenosis and other vascular abnormalities. Ian Donald and colleagues at the Glasgow Royal Maternity Hospital in Scotland conducted the first diagnostic procedures using ultrasonography. They applied these techniques to obstetrics to assess the growth of the foetus. As technical quality of scans further developed, it became possible to monitor pregnancy from start to finish and diagnose complications such as multiple pregnancy and foetal abnormalities. But the technology that came with a promise of wide-ranging benefits was soon abused as a tool to probe the foetus' sex and led to sex selective eliminations. In a country like India, where most of the population is still steeped in feudal mindsets, the obsession for a son has led to an adverse sex ratio and the situation has become alarming in some areas. In Madhya Pradesh's Morena district, the present child sex ratio stands at 837 (girls per 1,000 boys). To put an end to sex determination tests, the district authorities cancelled seven licences of ultrasound clinics and nursing homes that were suspected of carrying out the practice of sex selective elimination. But the order was set aside by state authorities and the clinics continued to function. Social activists then challenged the state's decision through public interest litigation (PIL) in the high court. The court stayed the state's move and re-imposed the ban, which was subsequently removed on the undertakings of the ultrasound centres and clinics. The clinics, in their replies, highlighted the benefits of sonography and what a boon it has been to mankind. The main argument put forward was that the petitioners might not know what ultrasound is and where it is used? They cited reports by the American Pregnancy Association and argued that ultrasound was indispensable for ascertaining congenital abnormalities and the health of the baby and the mother. They added that the petition deliberately emphasised only one aspect of ultrasonography - determination of foetal sex. The above argument is contrary to facts and opinion of experts. The economic aspect of sex determination tests is so overwhelming that the greed pushes back all considerations and caution is thrown to winds to make more money. The economics of the entire operation is revealed by Puneet Bedi, a doctor at Apollo Hospital in New Delhi, who is a votary of strong social values for the medical profession. He said: 'Ultrasound was invented in the 1950s for safe motherhood but it has not only killed millions of foetuses in India, it is also a leading cause of maternal mortality.' Since millions of foeticides occur every year in India, tens of thousands of doctors and nursing home owners are involved in it. The economics of the business, according to Bedi, is simple to understand. 'For every million foetuses killed, at least two million ultrasound examinations are done and one million abortions are performed. The revenue earned thus runs into at least Rs.5 billion (assuming that one sex determination and abortion costs Rs.5,000).' Coming to the cautionary warnings against ultrasound, a recent study by Pasko Rakic, chairman of the neurobiology department at Yale University School of Medicine says that exposure to ultrasound can affect foetal brain development. But it does not mean that the use of ultrasound on human foetuses for appropriate diagnostic and medical purposes be abandoned. Says Joshua Copel, president elect of the American Institute of Ultrasound Medicine: 'It's certainly helpful to know the anatomy of the foetus, but we should not be holding a transducer on the mom's abdomen for hours and hours!' Rakic's paper said that while the effects of ultrasound on the human brain development are not yet known, there are disorders thought to be the result of misplacement of brain cells during their development. As far as safety aspects are concerned, the risks of ultrasound during pregnancy are not fully known. Ultrasound has been possibly linked to miscarriages, lower birth weight, and pre-term labour. According to American Council of Gynaecologists, an ultrasound is not always accurate and it does not recommend its routine use. 'Ultrasound examination may disrupt normal brain development in unborn babies,' says Helle Kieler of Karolinska Institute, Stockholm. The expert urges mothers to avoid unnecessary ultrasonic scans but not cancel routine examinations. The World Health Organisation (WHO) too recommends prudence in ultrasound exposure to human subjects.

The Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics at Pune had published a study of ultrasound clinics in Maharashtra. It showed that knowledge, financial resources and access are three factors which, when they come together, enhance the possibility of sex determination techniques and sex selective elimination being practiced. The study's finding clearly indicates the strong correlation between availability of sonography centres and decline in child sex ratio during 1991-2001. Demographer Ashish Bose had said: 'The unholy alliance between tradition (son preference) and technology (ultrasound) has played havoc in Indian society.' The above facts call for a reconsideration of the regulatory mechanism connected with ultrasound technology. More stringent regulations and awareness efforts at social grassroots level are urgently needed.