Haryana women raise voice against female foeticide

Following Planning Commission missive to Haryana against female foeticide and growing disparity in male female ratio, women have come up against the evil in a big way. It was the first time yesterday that women from a small hamlet Bibipur in Jind district of Haryana had spoken at a Panchayat on this issue demanding registration of murder cases against those who were involved in female foeticide.  Lauding the initiative taken by its women and khap panchayat for raising the voice against female foeticide and for a social change, the Haryana Chief Minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda,today announced a reward of Rs one crore for the Bibipur village of Jind district for its overall development. The women and khap panchayat of Bibipur strongly condemned the menace of female foeticide at a Maha Panchayat held in the village yesterday. It may be recalled that the Planning Commission had cautioned Haryana against female foeticide and asked the state to ensure that "every girl child is allowed to be born". The commission expressed its concern over the skewed sex ratio in Haryana and advised the state to strictly implement the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) Act. While attributing to an excerpt from the report of Registrar General of India, the commission officials had reportedly said "it seems that that girl child is not allowed to take birth in Haryana". The panel also advised the Haryana government to take measures for bringing down the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) as well as crime against women (CAW) while keeping pace with the industrial and commercial growth in the state. As per the 2011 census, Haryana had the lowest child sex ratio of 830-1,000 in the age group between 0-6 years and 877-1,000 in general. The two districts in India where lowest sex ratio was recorded also fall in Haryana. Jhajjar and Mahendergarh have recorded the lowest sex ratio of 774-1,000 and 778-1,000 respectively. The Chief Minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, in the meanwhile today expressed the hope that other khap panchayats too would come forward to launch a mass movement against such social evils. The Chief Minister said that the initiative taken by Bibipur village and khap panchayat would usher in a new social change not only in Haryana, but also in the entire country. More villages and khap panchayats should come forward to condemn female foeticide. Hooda said that although the state government had enforced the PNDT Act in letter and spirit and a number of incentive-based schemes had been launched to check the menace of female foeticide and motivate people to change their mindset in favour of girl child, yet the issue needed wholehearted support of the people. The initiative taken by the khap and women of Bibipur would prove to be a step forward in the direction of social change. “The village and khap panchayat have shown to the entire country how such bodies can bring about a social change for the good of the humanity. The imbalanced sex ratio is a big social problem and it needs to be checked with commitment and will”, Hooda added.