dahiyars
February 13th, 2007, 06:24 AM
Haryana’s missing girls
Changes in policy required
by R.S. Dahiya
THE issue of missing girls and women in Haryana has gone to an alarming stage and needs a serious overview so that some concrete interventions can be thought of
Consumer-oriented economic development, commercialisation of the medical profession and sexist biases in our society together have created a sad scenario of missing girls.
Instead of women the empowerment, we are doing feminisation of labour. Global comparisons of sex ratios show that the sex ratios in Europe, North America, Caribbean, Central Asia and the poorest regions of Sab Saharan Africa are favourable to women as these countries neither kill/neglect girls nor do they use NRTs for the production of sons.
On the other hand, the lowest sex ratio is found in some parts of India and Haryana is one of them. The bottom 10 districts in child sex ratio are Fatehgarh Sahib (754), Patiala (770), Kurukshetra (770), Gurdaspur (775), Bathinda (779), Mansa (779) Amritsar (783), Sonepat (783) and Ambala (784). There are 16 districts in India having a less than 800 sex ratio and 10 of them are in Punjab and Haryana. There are 1852 villages in Haryana where the child sex ratio (0-6) is less than 750. This practice had been earlier also, but now it has taken a new turn with the widespread use of new reproductive technologies in Haryana during the period of the Green Revolution.
The census results of 2001 have revealed that with a sex ratio of 927 girls for 1000 boys, India had a deficit of 60 lakh girls in the age group of 0-6 years, when it entered the new millennium. In Haryana we are short of 3,22,436 girls in the age group of 0-6 years as per the 2001 census.
The NRTs in the context of patriarchal control over women’s fertility and commercial interests are posing a major threat to women’s dignity and bodily integrity. The two-child norm policy is also posing a negative impact.
The supporters of pre-birth elimination of females put forward various arguments like “pay Rs 500 now and save Rs 5,00,000 later”. Also it needs to be clarified that the right to abortion must remain as an essential right of women, a right to determine their life, their body and fertility. In this context the crucial and important question is: can we allow Haryanvi girls to become an endangered species?
Dr Sabu George and myself conducted a study on female foeticide in rural Haryana in a rural population of about 13,000 in Rohtak district and we interviewed more than 1,000 women to know the pregnancy outcomes during 1995 to 2000. We have found that the “sons only and sons must” syndrome has been perpetuated by resorting to female foeticide, using modern technological tools, thus reinforcing the patriarchal values as cultural determinants.
In our survey done in 2004 in 12 villages there were 50 cases of brides purchased from other states. In the last panchayat elections it became an election issue that if they win they would arrange for more purchased brides.
When we discussed the issue with a group of women in villages, they had a misconception that if their number decreases, their worth would increase.
They also told us that they have to have extra care from the birth of the girl child till they are married and later life as well beca use of the increasing, insecurity in society. They revealed that when a girl is born, there is an atmosphere of “mattam” and when a boy is born this is celebrated by beating a “thali” and distributing sweets. The tradition of the 6th day celebration on the birth of a boy “Chhath” is there. A mother who gives birth to a boy is given 10 kg of ghee and the mother giving birth to a girl is given 5 kg in villages. When asked whether they celebrate the “Namkaran Sanskar” of girls, all of them answered in the negative.
Similarly, many traditional discriminatory points came in during the discussion, confirming again the reflex conditioning of women’s psyche and society as a whole.
The PNDT Act amendment rules 2003 have activated the implementation machinery to curb nefarious practices contributing for missing girls. This is true but we have a great task in front of us i.e. to change the mindset of doctors, the people at large and the victim women in particular, to create a socio-cultural milieu that is conducive for the girl child’s survival and monitor the activities of commercial-minded doctor thriving on sexist prejudices.
The following policy-level changes are required and these need to be implemented by the state through both governmental structures and voluntary organisations:
Registering and monitoring of all pregnancies from the 6th week onward and not from the 12th week.
Increase the marriage age of girls from 18 to 21.
Provide compulsory, free, quality education to all girls up to the secondary level.
Extend 50 per cent representation to women in all decision-making bodies of the state to introduce a feministic political culture conducive to women friendly political action.
Eradicate child labour and guarantee employment for adult women.
Bring policy and legal measures to ensure that women have rights and control over productive resources for the economic empowerment of women.
Provide life-sustaining resources such as health, nutrition, water, education to all children without gender bias.
Entrust power to panchayats to maintain a register of the demographic profile with details on vital statistics.
Frame a child policy and a girl child policy to protect the interests of children.
Extend gender sensitisation training to policy makers, planners, administrators and implementers at all levels.
The writer is a Professor of Surgery, PGIMS, Rohtak
The Tribune,17 January2007.
Changes in policy required
by R.S. Dahiya
THE issue of missing girls and women in Haryana has gone to an alarming stage and needs a serious overview so that some concrete interventions can be thought of
Consumer-oriented economic development, commercialisation of the medical profession and sexist biases in our society together have created a sad scenario of missing girls.
Instead of women the empowerment, we are doing feminisation of labour. Global comparisons of sex ratios show that the sex ratios in Europe, North America, Caribbean, Central Asia and the poorest regions of Sab Saharan Africa are favourable to women as these countries neither kill/neglect girls nor do they use NRTs for the production of sons.
On the other hand, the lowest sex ratio is found in some parts of India and Haryana is one of them. The bottom 10 districts in child sex ratio are Fatehgarh Sahib (754), Patiala (770), Kurukshetra (770), Gurdaspur (775), Bathinda (779), Mansa (779) Amritsar (783), Sonepat (783) and Ambala (784). There are 16 districts in India having a less than 800 sex ratio and 10 of them are in Punjab and Haryana. There are 1852 villages in Haryana where the child sex ratio (0-6) is less than 750. This practice had been earlier also, but now it has taken a new turn with the widespread use of new reproductive technologies in Haryana during the period of the Green Revolution.
The census results of 2001 have revealed that with a sex ratio of 927 girls for 1000 boys, India had a deficit of 60 lakh girls in the age group of 0-6 years, when it entered the new millennium. In Haryana we are short of 3,22,436 girls in the age group of 0-6 years as per the 2001 census.
The NRTs in the context of patriarchal control over women’s fertility and commercial interests are posing a major threat to women’s dignity and bodily integrity. The two-child norm policy is also posing a negative impact.
The supporters of pre-birth elimination of females put forward various arguments like “pay Rs 500 now and save Rs 5,00,000 later”. Also it needs to be clarified that the right to abortion must remain as an essential right of women, a right to determine their life, their body and fertility. In this context the crucial and important question is: can we allow Haryanvi girls to become an endangered species?
Dr Sabu George and myself conducted a study on female foeticide in rural Haryana in a rural population of about 13,000 in Rohtak district and we interviewed more than 1,000 women to know the pregnancy outcomes during 1995 to 2000. We have found that the “sons only and sons must” syndrome has been perpetuated by resorting to female foeticide, using modern technological tools, thus reinforcing the patriarchal values as cultural determinants.
In our survey done in 2004 in 12 villages there were 50 cases of brides purchased from other states. In the last panchayat elections it became an election issue that if they win they would arrange for more purchased brides.
When we discussed the issue with a group of women in villages, they had a misconception that if their number decreases, their worth would increase.
They also told us that they have to have extra care from the birth of the girl child till they are married and later life as well beca use of the increasing, insecurity in society. They revealed that when a girl is born, there is an atmosphere of “mattam” and when a boy is born this is celebrated by beating a “thali” and distributing sweets. The tradition of the 6th day celebration on the birth of a boy “Chhath” is there. A mother who gives birth to a boy is given 10 kg of ghee and the mother giving birth to a girl is given 5 kg in villages. When asked whether they celebrate the “Namkaran Sanskar” of girls, all of them answered in the negative.
Similarly, many traditional discriminatory points came in during the discussion, confirming again the reflex conditioning of women’s psyche and society as a whole.
The PNDT Act amendment rules 2003 have activated the implementation machinery to curb nefarious practices contributing for missing girls. This is true but we have a great task in front of us i.e. to change the mindset of doctors, the people at large and the victim women in particular, to create a socio-cultural milieu that is conducive for the girl child’s survival and monitor the activities of commercial-minded doctor thriving on sexist prejudices.
The following policy-level changes are required and these need to be implemented by the state through both governmental structures and voluntary organisations:
Registering and monitoring of all pregnancies from the 6th week onward and not from the 12th week.
Increase the marriage age of girls from 18 to 21.
Provide compulsory, free, quality education to all girls up to the secondary level.
Extend 50 per cent representation to women in all decision-making bodies of the state to introduce a feministic political culture conducive to women friendly political action.
Eradicate child labour and guarantee employment for adult women.
Bring policy and legal measures to ensure that women have rights and control over productive resources for the economic empowerment of women.
Provide life-sustaining resources such as health, nutrition, water, education to all children without gender bias.
Entrust power to panchayats to maintain a register of the demographic profile with details on vital statistics.
Frame a child policy and a girl child policy to protect the interests of children.
Extend gender sensitisation training to policy makers, planners, administrators and implementers at all levels.
The writer is a Professor of Surgery, PGIMS, Rohtak
The Tribune,17 January2007.