Initiative taken to curb Female Foeticide

Binita Tiwari

New Delhi

Wed, 22 Aug 2007: 

Aug 22 : Ministry of Health and Family Welfare along with centre for Social Research made a move to fight female foeticide in Delhi.

Dr. Ranjana Kumari director of CSR said, “MCD claims that in the last one year, 2006-7, Narela, Punjabi Bagh and Najafgarh have become areas with lowest sex ratio in the capital. This is the reason that we decided to concentrate our attention exclusively on these areas.”

She claimed that female foeticide is one of the prime reasons for lower sex ratio and for this both the doctor and the people who go to the doctors for sex determination. She told that both would be targeted to curb this heinous crime. Besides booking doctors and quacks who are involved in the crime, CSR is planning to hold educational programmes in order to reach out people.

Dr. Ranjana Kumari talked about the paradox, that female foeticide is the problem of weaker section of society who wants male child and affluent family are more progressive and don’t indulge in sex selective abortion. “Two years ago, the affluent South Delhi colony of Hauz Khas had a skewed sex ratio of 782, when the rural population of many South Delhi colonies like Defense colony and Vasant Vihar were compared to the urban population of these colonies, it was found that rural population fared much better.”, added Ranjana. Narela and Najafgarh too had fared better than the south Delhi colonies where the sex ratio was as low as 762. CSR added central and east Delhi have shown higher sex ratio.

India is having various anti infanticide acts from the year 1870, ‘Infanticide act of 1870’, and then a decision taken by the Indian government to banned sex determination in 1976 only in government hospitals not in private centers, while in 1988, Maharashtra government enacted the regulation of the ‘Use of prenatal Diagnostic Techniques Act’ followed by Punjab, Gujarat, Haryana, which passed similar acts. In 1994, the Centre passed the Prenatal Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act covering the entire country. In 2001, Primary Information Litigation, PIL was filed by CEHAT and Ors, an NGO with the Supreme Court. As a result the Court directed state government to implement the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Test, PNDT act. In 2002 an act was passed in which Medical Council of India was authorized to take action against those practicing such crime. Again, it was amended in 2003 keeping in view the emerging technology for selection of sex before and after conception.

This initiative is taken at the relevant time when several cases of female foeticide have been unearthed in several parts of the country. Though this crime is associated with society, economy, religion, but its presence is deep rooted as much as in educated and developed area, the people from such area should be treated more harshly at the hands of law.

Creating awareness about gender equality is must to stop these systematic and institutionalised practices of sex selective murder. It should be concerted effort from all the section of society.

After all how can an unborn fight for her right….RIGHT TO LIVE!!