The depressing, indeed chilling, message of the national census data in the last several decades is that the country is viciously anti-woman. There can be no other explanation for the disastrous plummeting of the country’s child sex ratio. Disgustingly, the number of girls against that of boys, even in modern times at the end of the first decade of the 21st century, has fallen drastically to the lowest since independence.
The decline in India’s child sex ratio has been more consistent since 1961, after sex determination technology was introduced as a population control measure in the country. Census data shows that the sex ratio was 941 girls for 1000 boys in 1961, it dropped to 914:1000 in 2011. In some states, the sex ratio dropped a great deal. For instance, the proportion of girls to boys is the worst in the states of Haryana and Punjab where in some areas it is as low as 774. Certain Northeastern States and Kerala are noble exceptions to the general rule.
The causes of female foeticide are embedded deeply in the psyche of the Indian society. The evil practice has become a social trend, wherein preferential treatment is given to a male child. It is the general opinion which prevails in our society that a boy is advantageous and beneficial to the family in general and to his parents in particular. Girls are considered a liability and a burden that one has to carry throughout one’s life. The marriage of a girl is seen a costly event. The evil trend of payment of dowry is widespread in India and, is one of the main causes of the rampant female foeticide in the country.
Contrary to government’s focus on improving the child sex ratio in rural areas, social activists say, that the real problem is in urban areas. The trend is more frequent in urban rather than rural areas and among the literate rather than illiterate people. The 2011 census figures showed that while the sex ratio in rural areas is 919 girls per 1000 boys, in urban areas it’s 902:1000.
The Union Ministry of Health, however, while admitting that earlier sex selection was more an urban phenomenon, maintains that now the trend has shifted to rural areas. One of the main reasons for this, is portable ultrasound machines. Operators of these machines and doctors have realised that the market is in the rural areas and, this is why the government has banned unregistered ultrasound machines, including the ‘on call’ portable ultrasound machines. The ministry says that recent data analysis has indicated overall across the country child sex ratio (CSR) fell by 15 points in the rural as against 4 points in the urban areas.
On January 22, 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched his government’s big bang flagship scheme ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ (BBBP) – a multi-sectoral approach to tackling the problem of India’s vanishing girl child – which is aimed at bringing much needed attention to help address the country’s skewed child sex ratio. The scheme, which is monitored by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) in coordination with the ministries of Health and Human Resources Development, is based under objectives to ensure access and availability of essential requirements related to nutrition, healthcare, education besides protection and elimination of discrimination against a girl child which can lead to low self-esteem, life-long deprivation and exclusion from the mainstream. Another important objective of the BBBP scheme is to prevent gender-biased sex selection by stringent enforcement of law, especially by strengthening the implementation of Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act of 1994 with strict punishment for violations.
Social activists, however, are of the opinion that legal punishment will help only to a certain extent to bring this menace under control. What is required is urgent and comprehensive mass awareness to be carried in the country for completely eradicating the menace of female foeticide. There is complete breakdown of moral values in our society, because our education system is lopsided. Our entire focus has been on professional and vocational training, leaving no space for moral teaching.
Our immediate need is to make our education value-based. There is a need to educate the masses, right from school children, newly married couples, parents, doctors, nurses and all others who are directly or indirectly associated with the educational and medical professions on moral values, through regularly held seminars or symposiums, in order to make them aware about the fallout of skewed CSR and the potential role they could play in eradication of the evil menace of female foeticide.
People should be made to realise that the foetus contains life and its elimination is a most evil crime against humanity itself. Female foeticide amounts to homicide, destruction of an innocent life and a criminal disruption in the human society. The selective abortion of female fetuses after pre-natal sex determination has seriously damaged the structure of our country’s population to an alarming extent, as the number of female children has shown a consistent decline in the last several decades.
Government institutions, social organisations and conscientious citizens should inculcate among the masses a sense of accountability towards our creator and, thereby help in correcting the skewed figures which weigh heavily against the girl child. There should be serious deliberations over the issue and comprehensive measures taken immediately in order to arrest the decline in the number of female births in the country.
(The writer is a freelance journalist)
