Saving Grace

Bathinda DC8217;s strident campaign has helped curb female foeticide in the district.

This is an English translation of a Punjabi letter by medico couple Dr Baldev Singh and Dr Gurminder Sidhu, who have been writing on female foeticide for nearly two decades. The letter occupies a pride of place in the office of Rahul Bhandari, the Bathinda deputy commissioner. The prime mover of the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques PNDT Regulation and Prevention of Misuse Cell in Punjab, Bhandari has led such an active anti-foeticide campaign that it has helped push up Bathinda8217;s sex ratio from a dismal 750 females per thousand 1000 males 0-six years in 2003, to 841:1000 last year.

8220;The letter is very effective when it comes to expectant parents,8221; says Bhandari, who took over as DC in May 2005 and launched the campaign a month later. 8220;It makes them think of the foetus as a living being, not an inanimate object they can simply cast off.8221;

Set up in June 2003 by Anurag Aggarwal, the then deputy commissioner8212;his house was gheraoed by doctors protesting against his raids at ultrasound clinics8212;the PNDT cell has made a difference through a series of measures, some coercive, others educative.

Visit any village in the district and chances are they will tell you about the movies screened by the administration or of jaago, a ceremony where women with lighted lamps on their heads go from door to door, to create awareness about the falling sex ratio.

The movies as well as plays enacted by local theatre groups are a big hit in the countryside, says Sadhu Ram Kusla, project director of PNDT cell in Bathinda. He tells how Kanjjkan Da Kattal, a 79-minute satire on the menace of female foeticide, had such a deep impact on a couple that they decided not to abort their female foetus. 8220;They sent me an SMS, telling me how they had decided against abortion after watching the movie,8221; says Kusla.

Bhandari says the film, which has been viewed by over 1.5 lakh people since May 2006, was included by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting as a major achievement of the UPA government. Adds Paramjit Singh, sarpanch of Bhokhra village: 8220;The message has percolated to the masses and female foeticide is now considered shameful in our village.8221;

The administration has also announced a slew of monetary rewards for the panchayats which help improve the sex ratio in their villages. So a panchayat which helps its village achieve a sex ratio of 1000:1000 0-6 years in a year will get Rs 3 lakh, while a ratio of 950 or more females per 1000 males will fetch Rs 2.5 lakh. There is also a reward of Rs 5,100 for reporting female foeticide or attempted foeticide, and Rs 5,000 for a pregnant woman ready to play a decoy for the administration. Recently, the cell set up a toll-free number, with a Rs 100 incentive for anyone giving information about a woman in her second trimester. As a pre-emptive move, the DC sends a letter to the woman, asking her to register herself at the nearest health centre, where she is told about penalties she is likely to face if she indulges in sex determination.

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Till date, the PNDT cell claims to have registered nearly 30 cases against doctors and people indulging in foeticide. 8220;We need fast-track courts for speedy disposal of cases,8221; says Bhandari. 8220;The registration of pregnant ladies helps us keep tabs on them. We also scrutinise the Form F to be filled by women undertaking the ultrasound,8221; he explains.

However, there are several bottlenecks that need to be removed, says Bhandari. 8220;Though we conduct raids to see if the form is being filled prior to an ultrasound test, the PNDT Act should have a clause making it mandatory for the form to be issued by the PNDT cell, so that it can track it. 8220;Currently, doctors are submitting the form without proper serial numbers,8221; he says.

Bhandari also recommends more government funds for the successful implementation of the Act. 8220;Right now we are managing with help from the Red Cross, District Literacy Committees and NGOs,8221; he says. A little help from the government could go a long way in broadening the scope of Bhandari8217;s initiative.