Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda: ‘The government is in denial over sex ratio in Haryana’
Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda speaks about sex ratio in Haryana, its decline, and the road ahead
Deepender Singh Hooda (Sansad TV/ANI Video Grab) Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda speaks to Asad Rehman about sex ratio in Haryana, its decline, and the road ahead
You spoke in the Lok Sabha about the issue of sex ratio in Haryana. Can you elaborate on this?
From 2011 to 2019, we saw that the sex ratio was improving, and it improved from 875 to 926. 2020 onwards, the sex ratio has started dipping again. The sex ratio has been reported this year as 906… Even PM Narendra Modi had launched the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ scheme in 2015 in Panipat. From then, till 2019, there was improvement. I am giving a very objective viewpoint here.
What is the source of data which says that sex ratio in the state this year is 906?
These numbers have been reported by the Haryana government. And in the last six months, we have seen the media in Haryana take this issue very seriously and have reported on it extensively.
You contradicted Union Health Minister JP Nadda in the House. What was the contradiction?
JP Nadda today categorically said in the House that the sex ratio is improving in Haryana. Factually, he was wrong. The data was given by the Ministry of Health under the state government in the Assembly. It is available on their website too. It has been reported by the government of India.
What are the reasons for the worsening sex ratio?
We must see what are the trends that have resulted in this. The trends in early 2000s and 1990s was that this was because of prenatal tests and ultrasounds to identify gender. In 1994, the pre-natal sex determination test was banned. Though the implementation of the ban is low, we saw some improvement due to it… Three broad trends are resulting in the dip in sex ratio. First, abortion kits and medication are being sold over the counter without any checks. Second, the mushrooming of IVF centers. IVF techniques are being misused to not have girl children in the state. Third, there are 1,500 licensed abortion centres. As this data was released, there was a hue and cry. Out of the 1,500, a total of 300 centres were closed…This means there was a scam going on under the patronage of ministry of health, local administration, and patients… There are prenatal genetic tests too – which are misused to find out the sex of babies before birth … It is important for the government to address these things and it should be done collectively… The government is in denial and Nadda ji only wanted to praise the BJP government in the state.
We saw that the first two days of this Winter session were washed out. Why couldn’t the government and Opposition come to consensus earlier?
This is a question for the government to answer. If we have put in a demand, which has now been accepted (SIR debate), why couldn’t it be accepted earlier? It is because of the government’s ego that time was lost during this session.
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