Chandigarh does not carry the baggage of tradition or history, it was tailor-cut to suit modern aspirations and has evolved differently from all other cities in the country. The city prides itself on its status as “one of the best cities to live in” with highest bank density, highest car ownership etc, despite the boom in migrant population over the last few years. The literacy rate in the city is at 81 per cent, yet the sex ratio stands at 777 females to 1000 males -the worst in the country. Why does this happen in a modern city?
In a city of pronounced prosperity and culture, are girls not treated at par with boys? The lack of logic behind this phenomenon will baffle sociologists. A city where girls and boys seem to be having fun, study, excel and work together, why is female foeticide so rampant? Sometimes, one feels that behind many of these big houses where status is measured in ‘kanals’ and the number of the sector one resides in, people are still living with mindsets of medieval male superiority such as:
n A girl does not carry forward the family name
n Her marriage can be a financial burden
n After marriage the family property will pass to her husband
n She can be a victim of dowry
n She is never safe from crimes against women
n Boy’s birth has higher social sanction
n The in-laws pressurize for pre-natal ultrasound scans etc
Are we truly educated and cultured? The irony is that many doctors/nurses are a party to this feudal mind-set despite higher education. If we believe in gender equality in our country, then statistically over 1 billion population of our country should have 528 million women, whereas we are at 496 million - where are the missing 32 million women? Some are never born and some die prematurely because they are not allowed to live, or, are not cared for to survive!
In our work with the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan centers, medical check-ups are conducted on children from disadvantaged and economically underprivileged families in the age group of 6-14 years, and 80 per cent girls are found anaemic and malnourished. On the basis of this our recommendation for folic acid tablets has now been supplemented with the mid day meal being provided by the Administration. A study conducted on 3-6 year old children of 145 Anganwadis in the slum areas of Chandigarh revealed malnutrition rate of 60 per cent among girls was much more higher than the boys.
In a city of such developed infrastructure, is there a forum or platform for women to get together, network and form action groups to fight against the social ills against women? There are so many laws for prevention of crime against women but where is the awareness and the awakening, or the institutions which could spread this actively? A city becomes beautiful and cultured not by concrete and mortar or by organising musical soirees, but, by providing equal dignity to female gender. The city has a strong need for such a forum which corporates/NGOs could fulfill by providing legal and moral support to women especially those belonging to the economically weaker sections.
The working women in Chandigarh are aware and are much more empowered than her rural counterparts because they are financially independent. However, the urban woman of today finds herself stretched in different directions. From the clutches of dowry –which rested on the greed of the other, to the lure of the market, that brings greed and compromise to her own doorstep, seem to weaken her own stand. In the race for consumerism whether cosmetics, jewellery, garments or luxury goods, hyped on television and print media, many women of substance are losing their own identity. They seem to have lost the freedom of choice for the bonding of money and are being pulled into a typhoon of consumerism and greed. The confusion has resulted in an undue focus on personality and grooming at the cost of substance. Like Alice in Wonderland, many women seem to have lost their way in a market place.
In a city of pronounced prosperity and culture, are girls not treated at par with boys? The lack of logic behind this phenomenon will baffle sociologists. A city where girls and boys seem to be having fun, study, excel and work together, why is female foeticide so rampant? Sometimes, one feels that behind many of these big houses where status is measured in ‘kanals’ and the number of the sector one resides in, people are still living with mindsets of medieval male superiority such as:
n A girl does not carry forward the family name
n Her marriage can be a financial burden
n After marriage the family property will pass to her husband
n She can be a victim of dowry
n She is never safe from crimes against women
n Boy’s birth has higher social sanction
n The in-laws pressurize for pre-natal ultrasound scans etc
Are we truly educated and cultured? The irony is that many doctors/nurses are a party to this feudal mind-set despite higher education. If we believe in gender equality in our country, then statistically over 1 billion population of our country should have 528 million women, whereas we are at 496 million - where are the missing 32 million women? Some are never born and some die prematurely because they are not allowed to live, or, are not cared for to survive!
In our work with the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan centers, medical check-ups are conducted on children from disadvantaged and economically underprivileged families in the age group of 6-14 years, and 80 per cent girls are found anaemic and malnourished. On the basis of this our recommendation for folic acid tablets has now been supplemented with the mid day meal being provided by the Administration. A study conducted on 3-6 year old children of 145 Anganwadis in the slum areas of Chandigarh revealed malnutrition rate of 60 per cent among girls was much more higher than the boys.
In a city of such developed infrastructure, is there a forum or platform for women to get together, network and form action groups to fight against the social ills against women? There are so many laws for prevention of crime against women but where is the awareness and the awakening, or the institutions which could spread this actively? A city becomes beautiful and cultured not by concrete and mortar or by organising musical soirees, but, by providing equal dignity to female gender. The city has a strong need for such a forum which corporates/NGOs could fulfill by providing legal and moral support to women especially those belonging to the economically weaker sections.
The working women in Chandigarh are aware and are much more empowered than her rural counterparts because they are financially independent. However, the urban woman of today finds herself stretched in different directions. From the clutches of dowry –which rested on the greed of the other, to the lure of the market, that brings greed and compromise to her own doorstep, seem to weaken her own stand. In the race for consumerism whether cosmetics, jewellery, garments or luxury goods, hyped on television and print media, many women of substance are losing their own identity. They seem to have lost the freedom of choice for the bonding of money and are being pulled into a typhoon of consumerism and greed. The confusion has resulted in an undue focus on personality and grooming at the cost of substance. Like Alice in Wonderland, many women seem to have lost their way in a market place.
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