In Haryana, which is known for its skewed sex ratio, 48 panchayats have come together and vowed to root out the menace of female foeticide.
Following PM Narendra Modi’s flagship ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ programme in letter and spirit, 48 panchayats in Dabwali block of Haryana’s Sirsa district have pledged to socially boycott families that indulge in female foeticide in an effort to end the menace.
Sarpanches of these 48 panchayats have passed a resolution to socially boycott the families indulged in female foeticide and also, to reward those who would give information about such families, said Geeta Devi, Sarpanch of Kaluana panchayat, while talking to The Pioneer.
Not only this, the panchayats have also decided to begin a house to house counselling campaign to change the mindset of the residents to end the discrimination against girl child in the society.
A resolution passed by these panchayats, would now be submitted to the Haryana Government, urging it to encourage other panchayats in the State to follow suit.
Kaluana panchayat, which took the lead in this initiative, has announced to give Rs11000 cash award to those who would give information about people indulging in female foeticide.
The sex determination and female foeticide have been partly blamed for the low sex ratio in Haryana, although sex selection is outlawed by the PCPNDT Act.
Geeta Devi, who took the initiative to bring together 48 panchayats to take pledge to fight against the female foeticide said, “Sarpanches of 48 panchayats have passed a resolution in this regard. The resolution would be given to the State Government soon.”
Initially, Kaluana panchayat had taken various decisions to improve the skewed sex ratio but now, other panchayats have also come forward in an effort to save the girl child.
Besides, male family members who would go for sterilization after the birth of one or two daughters and will not opt for a male child, will be felicitated by these panchayats. In Kaluana panchayat, we have also announced an award of Rs5100 for such male members and also, free education to the daughters in these families, said Geeta Devi.
“Haryana’s Kaluana village which is near to Rajasthan state had been facing the problem of skewed sex ratio and consequent, dearth of marriageable girls. But things have improved in the past few years. last year, the sex ratio in the panchayat was 750 girls per 1000 boys, which has increased to 813 girls, as per the latest data,” said Jagdev Singh, Geeta’s husband who remained village Sarpanch.
Jagdev, who heads Kaluana Welfare Shiksha Samiti for the education of girls said, “Kaluana panchayat alongwith 47 other panchayats of the block is also making efforts to change the mindset of people towards girl child.”
For this, house to house counselling campaign would be conducted. The residents would also be urged to ensure education of their girl child, he added.
In its ongoing crusade against the menace of female foeticide, Haryana Government has registered more than 200 FIRs under Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act 1994 in past one year.
Haryana, which had the worst sex ratio among States in the 2011 census, was chosen by PM Narendra Modi to launch the nationwide ambitious ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ in 2015, which is now implemented in 20 districts of the State.
Haryana had the lowest child sex ratio of 834 compared to the national average of 919 (as per census of India 2011).
A year later, the State had recorded sex ratio at 903 in December last— the first time in a decade that it had crossed 900 in Haryana. The State is now aiming to achieve the target of more than 950 females per 1,000 males in the sex ratio at birth (SRB) by the end of this year.