India's declining female-male ratio continues to be a cause of concern with a recent report saying that the number of girls born and surviving in India has hit an all-time low as compared to boys.
For Uttarakhand, it has already assumed grave proportions with the State having slipped from its earlier position in respect to female-male sex ratio, says the report.
The reasons attributed to this decline are many – spurt in the number of ultrasound centres in the district, irregular checking by the health authorities and rising flamboyance in marriages and dowry practices, to name some.
As per recent survey of Registrar General of India, Uttarakhand at large has not evinced interests in the ‘Beti Bachao’ campaign. Though neglection of female sex in matters of upbringing and the like has been observed.
As per the 2011 census, the male- female child sex ratio was 869, taking 1000 boys born in comparison to the girls. The survey says the ratio has further dropped to 843. The only State lying below Uttarakhand in the series is Haryana.
However, if we go by the statistical figures given in the official website of Uttarakhand health and family welfare society, the State has 886 girls per thousand boys as per the 2011 census.
The decreasing ratio is despite the fact that the literacy rate of Uttarakhand is 78.2 with the State standing 18 in the national literacy ladder. The official website of the Uttarakhand health and family welfare society claims “Communities in Uttarakhand follow a patriarchal system and female foeticide is the result of high preference for sons. Education is helpful in the development of each area, but on the issue of increasing female foeticide, no impact of education can be seen.Female foeticide is more prevalent in the cities than in the villages and educated people are involved in this heinous crime.”
According to the Action Aid Survey report, the “use of ultrasound technology to determine the sex of the unborn child is responsible for the declining female sex ratio.” Though sex selection and selective abortion have been outlawed in India since 1994, poor enforcement ensures that the practice continues.
When contacted, the district hospital authorities failed to give the sex- wise account of the deliveries last month. Speaking to The Pioneer, CMS of Haridwar Mahila Hospital, said, “Total 272 deliveries have taken place. But the pharmacist who keeps records of male/ female sex ratio is not available now. The data can be given after he is available,” –a statement which clearly shows the laid-back attitude of the hospital authorities towards a serious subject like this.
The doctors, nurses and medical practitioners are profiteering from the ingrained discrimination in the societal psyche against daughters. Many of the 6,000 families interviewed by the agency called Action Aid says that the ultra sound centres carry out sex detection scans and sex selective abortions for a few thousand rupees.
There are, in all, 89 ultrasound centres registered in the district and the last inspection done by the district hospital authorities was a year ago when they sealed Yashlok Hospital in Roorkee on account of irregularity in documents (Form F was not filled) on 17 September 2014. But surprisingly enough, no raid has been conducted on sex- determination. Embryos found recently in garbage near Har Ki Pauri CCR Tower and behind the bushes of Mela hospital bear testimony to the fact that the female foeticide is still rampant in the district.
Things are grim against the backdrop of the State’s Chief Minister unceasingly rolling out programmes meant to boost the prospects of the girls and the women in Uttarakhand’s developmental roadmap, says an observer.