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Journalism of Courage
None other than a top official in the Maharashtra health ministry recounted how girls from a tribal village of Gadchiroli district in the state were being 8216;married8217; off to boys in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh. It8217;s a telling comment on the times when parents have to 8216;buy8217; brides for Rs 14,000 just because Madhya Pradesh has a deficit of women.
So when the national implementation and monitoring committee recently swooped down on diagnostic clinics and hospitals in Pune and Mumbai, it was literally to create 8216;fear8217; in the minds of doctors that there was a big boss out there taking a really stern look at the trend of missing girls in the country.
But will this team be successful in their efforts? The infant child ratio 0-6 years at the national level has declined from 945 girls per 1000 boys in 1991 to 927 girls per 1000 boys in 2001. And those census figures are six years old.
The statistics are horrifying in states like Punjab 8212; 798 girls per 1000 boys; Haryana 8212; 819; Chandigarh 8212; 845; Delhi 8212; 868 girls; Gujarat 8212; 883; and Himachal Pradesh 8212; 896. Is the strict and pro-active implementation of the PC-PNDT Act the only solution? Can this be enough in a country where the elimination of the girl child is a symptom of a much deeper malaise in our society 8212; a reminder of the secondary status of women? Given the crisis facing the nation, any move of this kind is welcome. Even if the Central team does not catch the doctors red-handed, at least the medical community is being made aware that it is being watched. At least some of the numerous doctors who claim to be 8220;preaching against sex-determination8221;, even as they quietly conduct sex-selective abortions for a handsome consideration, will take note of these raids. At least advisory committees will meet more often and states will set up their own implementation and monitoring committees. At least the earlier lethargy has been replaced by a sense of purpose.
But we need to keep at it.
