The declining child sex ratio in Uttar Pradesh has set off alarm bells among women activists, particularly those fighting against female foetecide.A study carried out by Action Aid on the implementation of the PCPNDT Act (Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994) has revealed that the child sex ratio is declining fast from west to east of UP.
Sharing the findings of the study with the media on Wednesday, Action Aid’s programme officer Barkha Chakraborty said the decline in child sex ratio was alarming in slums and among Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes also across the state.
The report says that there is widespread awareness among the rural people of the availability of sex selection techniques and the places there they were available.Many families covered by the study reported knowledge of sex determination in their communities, villages and a few even in their own families.
“Ultrasound clinics have penetrated into smaller towns. Most of the rural population are within 15 km from a clinic providing sex determination. There is extensive promotion of sex selection by medical professionals,” the report says.
Barkha said their volunteers involved in the study were informed by people in several districts that government functionaries were also part of the sex determination racket.
The report states that in several districts, NGOs were having life membership in the committees concerned though the law limits two terms. It also states that there is no regulation on prenatal ultrasound to prevent its misuse for sex determination.
In two districts, Kushinagar and Hamirpur, the study reveals that the mandatory Form F is not submitted by the clinics/pathologies. In districts like Saharanpur, many clinics submit Form F, but it was under-reported at other places. It has also come to light that the districts authorities do not go through the forms submitted.
The report states that the regulatory mechanism envisaged in the PCPNDT Act is flouted and that the awareness initiatives of the partners and others (including government) have not restrained the practice and promotion of sex selection at the grass roots level. It says that without multi strategic interventions on this issue, it is difficult to eliminate the practice of sex selection. Barkha said one could expect further increase in violence against women and trafficking of women for marriage as the worst consequences in western UP would be borne by the poorest families in eastern UP and Bundelkhand.
“Since there already exists a network for buying women and it has acquired social legitimacy, we find cases of buying women for marriage even in areas where sex ratios is 900 plus. These new marriage practices will further undermine the dignity of women and women will become more vulnerable for violence and sexual exploitation,” she added.
She said the consequences also meant that inter-community violence would increase. “Haryana, in recent years, has been declared as the rape capital. Far too often the reported victims have been Dalit women. The political power conflicts and the fascist/capitalist discourse mostly dilute the issue of women, and promote the son preference,” she added.
Urbanisation among the rural population and middle class being high, most reference further influence and spread the patriarchal practice of sex selection.
Barkha said the lack of a larger understanding of the dangers of quick reduction of fertility in the context of rampant foetal foetecide in the civil society or among policy makers was deplorable.
“Given this context, small families will inevitably be achieved by elimination of girls. For instance, the popular girl child schemes like laadli laxmi Yojana, etc. explicitly discriminate against large families. These families in fact contribute more girls unlike small families which have disproportionately more sons,” Barkha said.