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NEW DELHI : Female foeticide in India has assumed alarming proportions.
Latest figures indicate that there are 933 females to 1,000 males in the country.
The government is trying to step up efforts to tackle the menace.
Rallies to raise a voice against female foeticide have become a common occurrence in India.
The country's alarming sex ratio is very much under the normal average.
This means that discrimination against girls is still prevalent in society despite ongoing efforts to curb the menace by government as well as non-government organisations (NGOs).
Priya, a student, elaborated, "The burden of dowry system has also taken many girls' lives. Now there is the right to property. For this law, parents feel that girls are really a burden. We want to (raise awareness) that they are wrong, and that a girl child is God's gift."
Another student, Shirpa, said, "India is still a developing nation. To make it a more developed nation, girls have to be considered the future of the country."
To bridge the gap between the population ratio of females to males, the Indian government has been running a national level programme called "Save The Girl Child".
A seminar was organised in the capital recently to boost this programme.
It was attended by several social scientists as well as volunteers wanting to create awareness on female foeticide.
A rising gap between the female and male populations in the country has forced Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to make an emotional request to society for the sake of the girl child.
Besides governmental programmes to stop female foeticide, the issue needs immediate attention from people from all levels of society.
The Prime Minister said, "Societal discrimination against women begins at our homes. It begins before a girl child born. One of the most inhuman, uncivilised practices is the practice of female foeticide. The patriarchal mindset and preference to male children is compounded by unethical doings of some medical practitioners assisted by unscrupulous parents, who illegally offer sex determination service."
Even though sex determination is illegal in India, there are doctors who openly flout the ban and conduct ultrasounds with the consent of willing parents.
Meanwhile, NGOs and social workers have been working tirelessly to spread awareness among rural people. The result is visible in the improved sex ratio in villages.
But it is the urban educated class that poses a problem.
Rajesh Kumar, a researcher, said, "Most of the times you feel that the ignorant, uneducated people do such things. But contrary to that, we found out that this practice of sex determination is much prevalent is economically well-off and educated people."
The desire for a male child in India arises out of a need for a man to carry on the family lineage.
Education, a change in mindset and stressing the importance of the girl child are areas where awareness is required.
Prime Minister Singh said, "Action must begin at home - in our family and community. I am not saying this as the Prime Minister of India, but I'm saying this as the proud father of three daughters. I wish for every girl of my country what I wish for my own daughters."
Only a balanced ratio of girls to boys can hold the promise of a harmonious future.
Social analysts have said, a skewed sex ratio will lead to rise in crime against women, greater forced bachelorhood, and even AIDS. - CNA/ms
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