Sweet are the uses of bonhomie. All that jocular stuff between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama during the latter’s visit to India this week was a clincher. The widely-televised rapport helped clear the nuclear logjam besetting the two countries and give a big push in defence cooperation. Or so Delhi’s political pundits say.
With the US President looking on, Mr Modi also promised business honchos from both countries that his office will be monitoring mega projects involving large investments. In a country which revels in policy and flounders in practice, the Prime Minister’s assurance was welcome. Unsurprisingly, investors like the idea of the Prime Minister’s Office monitoring the larger projects to speed up decision-making.
But what about the other mega project, “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao”, launched with such much fanfare by the Prime Minister himself, just a few days ago? The success of this flagship campaign to stop female foeticide and nurture the girl child is as critical to India’s future as getting stalled projects off the ground and rejuvenating the manufacturing sector. Will the PMO keep a hawk eye on the initiative’s progress in the coming months just as it plans to do with other mega projects?
“Save the girl child” is not a new battle cry. Nor is nurturing her a new idea. Every government pays homage to it. India has laws and projects galore to deal with the problem, yet the crisis of the dwindling number of girls continues.
Consider the grim facts: India is seeing a sharp fall in the child sex ratio (CSR), calculated as the number of girls per 1,000 boys in the 0-6 age group. The CSR nose-dived from 945 girls per 1,000 boys in 1991 to 927 in 2001 and to 918 in 2011. Thirteen out of the 35 states and Union Territories had CSR lower than the national average of 918 girls per 1,000 boys in 2011. Official data shows the CSR ranging from a high of 972 in Arunachal Pradesh to a low of 834 in Haryana.
The trend is now spreading across the country, and expanding to rural and tribal areas as well. This, obviously, has demographic and social impacts. Needless to say, we have laws. The Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act has been there since the mid-Nineties. It seeks to stop female foeticides and arrest the declining sex ratio in India. However, political and administrative will has been patchy and implementation a perennial problem. Last year, the Supreme Court rapped the Centre for being “sloppy” in checking female foeticide in the country.
On an earlier occasion, the apex court had directed the state governments to map all ultra-sonography clinics within a stipulated time and asked the lower courts to dispose off all cases for violation of the act within six months. It had also asked for a special cell to be constituted by the state governments and Union Territories to monitor the progress of various cases pending in courts under the act and take steps for their early disposal. The ground realities, sadly, have not kept pace with the judicial diktats.
The problem is known. The solution is known. But the will has been lacking all this while. Mr Modi has brought a certain sense of urgency to the issue by speaking about it on numerous occasions. The “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” campaign in its latest avatar has guidelines for district collectors and deputy commissioners. “We are worse than people in the 18th century when newly-born baby girls were drowned in a bowl of milk. At least they allowed those girls to see their mother’s face, see the world for a few moments. We do not even allow that because we do not even let them be born,” the Prime Minister said while launching “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” from Panipat, Haryana, which has one of the worst sex ratios in the country.
The scheme is being initially piloted in 100 districts across the country, including 12 in Haryana, the worst state when it comes to CSR. Mr Modi also launched the “Sukanya Samriddhi Account” scheme to enable girls to have bank accounts. In the latest edition of Mann ki Baat, his radio talk show, Mr Modi deftly teamed up with Mr Obama to speak about saving the girl child and empowering women. The “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” tableau was on display at the Republic Day parade. Wing Commander Puja Thakur, the first female commanding officer to head the inter-services Guard of Honour inspected by the US President at Rashtrapati Bhavan, showcased India’s woman power.
All this makes for powerful imagery. That is a good first step. But it is also time to walk the talk. Saving the girl child and letting her blossom is not rocket science. It can be done. Activists say no laws or projects can be successful without monitoring. That can’t be just a bureaucratic exercise. Communities need to be involved in the process and be encouraged to celebrate the arrival of every girl child. Action Aid, an NGO, has managed to mobilise 250 gram panchayats to
pass a resolution against female foeticide in a state like Haryana.
But there is also the need for penalisation. Those who kill female foetuses are not unaware of what they are doing. Many of them are all too aware of how to access technology which can do their bidding. There needs to be stiff penalties for such people, and for the erring and greedy doctors and ultrasound clinics which are party to these nefarious acts. The conviction rate under the PCPNDT Act has been patchy. For example, the Pune Municipal Corporation has secured only one conviction under the PCPNDT Act out of 21 cases being heard before the city trial courts since 2011. Why can’t there be special fast-track courts and speedy trials of all cases filed under the PCPNDT Act across the country and 100 per cent registrations of centres providing pre-conception and pre-natal diagnostic services? And protect “whistleblowers” and “witnesses” to increase the conviction rates under the PCPNDT Act.
The writer focuses on development issues in India and emerging economies. She can be reached at patralekha.chatterjee@gmail.com
