EXAMPLES TO FOLLOW TO CURB DECLINING SEX RATIO

In Punjab, which is traditionally known to be hostile to unborn or even newborn female infants, there are villages that care for the girl child. Some of these villages outperformed the national average child sex ratio (CSR) of 914 and have a much higher number of girls than boys who are born here. Irrespective of the pressure to have a male child, some of these villages have launched campaigns through their panchayats to ostracise female foeticide.
Even though the official release of census data on Punjab is still a week or 10 days away, but several of these villages like Jalahmajra, Bijlipur and Khothran will continue to serve as a ray of hope for the girl child. According to a study conducted by British medical journal Lancet, around 10 million unborn girls have been killed in India during the last decade. Officials, however, put the figures to about half. That makes these villages even more unique and important. Punjab schemes to give a village Rs 3 lakh if it reports more girls than boys has helped.
Jalahmajra village in Nawanshehar district has achieved the distinction of reporting 1,020 girls per 1,000 boys. The village that had a low CSR saw a turnaround when Krishan Kumar was the Deputy Commissioner there. He just created awareness and ordered strict implementation of the PNDT Act. Once the word spread that determining the sex of an unborn child would not go unpunished, people fell in line, says Satnam Singh, a local resident.
Jalamajra is not the only village in the district; there are many other villages that had shown a turnaround. The census data will reveal how many have been able to maintain their high CSR.
Bijlipur village, situated at a short distance from Samrala on the Chandigarh-Ludhiana highway, too, has more girls than boys. On a tabulation of per thousand basis, the population of girls was nearly twice as much as that of the boys some years ago. The census could put this village as the one with the highest CSR in the state once the state is out. According to village panchayat member, Charanjit Singh, some years ago the village counted a ratio of 1,880 girls per 1,000 boys.
The Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network story of Khothran village, also in Nawanshahar, is also no different. In 2005 the village reported the birth of 44 girls against 33 boys, if tabulated it threw up a ratio of 1,334 girls for every 1,000 boys. A village resident Sardul Singh says, besides other factors influence of non-resident Indians (NRIs) from the area has also helped change people’s mind in curbing female foeticide.
These villages have managed to achieve that most of the 12,500-odd villages in Punjab need to follow. Once the census data is out, it could throw light on several other villages that have been part of this silent transition, but are yet to be acknowledged.