Fatehgarh Sahib district now dotes on its new-born daughters

The result is a combined effort of the village sarpanchs, gurdwara priests and the health department.

Paramjit Kaur, the woman sarpanch of Kotli, attributes the turnaround to the change in the mindset of village women.

“I can’t point at a single factor that may have brought about this change. We felt the difference once we began to mobilise public opinion in favour of the girl child,” she said.

Pleased with the development, the director of Health Services has decided to give a special grant of Rs 3 lakh to each of the three villages in Fatehgarh Sahib, where a considerable improvement in the sex ratio has been seen.

The gurdwara priest says it was a multi-pronged effort. “The health department talked about the need for a balanced ratio, while we would tell people that killing of the child in the womb is a sin. Then, the sarpanch began to celebrate the birth of daughters. Now things have come to such a stage that couples who have a girl child consider themselves more emancipated than those who have sons,” he said.

Celebrating the birth of a girl child in the village is de rigueur now. Thanks to sarpanch Paramjit Kaur, who herself is the mother of two daughters.

Civil surgeon Dr S M S Sidhu believes this change is an outcome of the concerted efforts of the district administration and the health department. “We not only gave a push to our awareness programmes but also started a door-to-door survey to record registration of birth, which was not a common practice in villages,” says Sidhu.

Elaborating on the statistics in the 31 villages, he said women outnumber men in 20 villages, while in the rest, their ratio has increased to a healthy 950: 1000.

This data was collected by the district administration following a survey in November last year.

Interestingly, sarpanchs of Fatehpur Rayain and Longomajri village were unaware of either their achievement or the award.

Swarn Singh, sarpanch of Fatehpur Rayain, said: “Perhaps the communication from the DC office is yet to reach our office. But we are happy that our efforts have paid off. Now we will spend this grant on the welfare of the girl child.”

Swarn Singh praised the work done by three women members of the village panchayat — Harjit Kaur, Jaspal Kaur and Paramjit Kaur. “They took it upon themselves to educate parents-to-be along with anganwari workers,” said Singh.

Singh, sarpanch of Longomajri village, says the turnaround is a result of their collective change of heart. “We would sit together and mull about the consequences of having a village with only boys. It was then we realised how precious our daughters and sisters are to us. And how we can’t be a party to their selective killing.”

Today, there is no house in the village that does not boast of a girl child.

Deputy Commissioner Alaknanda Dyal says the administration will continue with its efforts to improve the sex ratio in other villages as well. “I also hope that the awards will inspire other villages to follow suit.”