People & Their Problems
New Delhi, 12
March 2015
India’s Girl Child
TOWARDS CHANGING
MINDSET
By Archana Datta
(Former DG, DD News/NSD, AIR)
Our ancient scriptures say that 'Yatra naryastu pujyanter amante
tatra devataha'--- where women are worshiped there the Gods reside. The Upanishads
declare that –Ekam sat viprah
bahuda vadanthi’ ---there is only one
reality in this world, described in many ways. Man and woman are the two
manifestations of one supreme power and are equal in strength, power and
disposition. Such was the lofty status given to women in our ancient scriptures
and society. Sadly, over the ages, women became subject to social exclusion,
multiple deprivation and mental and physical abuse.
The vicious cycle of inequality
perpetuated a decline in the status of women and fostered lop-sided development.
In the 21st century, a paradoxical situation exists when a section of them have
made a place for themselves in society, yet a large number remains deprived of
the right to live with dignity and, moreover, a girl child is deemed unworthy
of life itself. To have inclusive growth, it is imperative to ensure that women
in all situations get equal opportunity to live and lead a life of their
choice.
The Census 2011 is an eye opener as
it records an all-time low Child Sex Ratio (CSR) of 918, which is the number of
girls per thousand boys, between the age group of 0-6 years. The declining sex
ratio is in existence in every part of the country-- rural, urban and tribal
areas. It is an alarming situation, which will alter the demographic profile of
the country, and requires immediate action to reverse this dangerous trend to
prevent further erosion of gender justice.
To arrest this declining trend and
ensure women’s education, a national programme, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP), launched by Prime Minister in January
in Haryana needs special attention by all States. A joint initiative of the
Ministries of Women & Child Development, Health & Family Welfare and
Human Resources Development its twin objectives are: to protect a girl child of
her right to be born and her right to life, and to empower her with education
and life skills.
Interestingly, the place selected
for the launch carries significance, with Haryana being one of the worst
performers on CSR. It has just 877 females per 1000 males, and in case of 0-6
years, the figure is as low as 830, as per Census 2011.
Indeed, the launch highlights the
urgency of the situation and the need to reverse this dangerous demographic
trend. Only if there is collective responsibility to end this 'terrible crisis'
will it have far reaching consequences on future generations. People must turn
the birth of a girl child into an ‘Anandotsav'
and a community celebration. To give it additional boost, the Government
has launched the "Sukanya Samriddhi
Account" for the girl child’s education. The current year’s Budget
proposal for 2015-16, gives it a tax break on its accrued annual interest of
9.1%.
Initially, 100 Gender Critical
districts in all States and UTs have been earmarked for focussed attention. There
is need for a multi-sectoral approach, which lays stress on mass mobilisation
and community participation. In campaign mode, it has several monitorable
targets. One is to improve the Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) in identified gender
critical districts by 10 points a year. The other is to reduce gender
differentials in under-Five Child Mortality Rate from 8 points in 2011 to 4
points by 2017. It sets the target to increase girl enrolment in secondary
education from 76% in 2013-14 to 79% by 2017 and provide toilets for girls in
every school in the 100 CSR districts by 2017. A tall order, but if there is a
will, there’s a way.
Further, the campaign is all set to
work towards curbing sex-selective abortion, improve the nutritional status of
girls by reducing the number of underweight and anaemic girls under the age of
5, and promote a protective environment for the girl child through
implementation of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act,
2012.
However, the key to success of any
programme has to be community participation with involvement of local leaders.
Only then would any mass mobilisation programme be successful which primarily
targets at changes in attitude and behavioural pattern. Therefore, the campaign
strongly advocates for the association of all local leaders and grass-root
functionaries
who will be trained as community champions.
The major plank, however, on which
this mass mobilisation movement should be based, is on the creation of an
enabling environment for the birth of a girl child. Recall the example of
Jayapura village in Varanasi,
where the birth of a girl child is a cause for celebration and five trees are
planted on each such occasion. There is need for every village to emulate such
celebrations. And, the campaign has this
on its agenda.
Importantly, the programme lays
stress on generating a supportive atmosphere for the birth of a girl child --
both at home and at the community level. Creation of awareness about safe
motherhood, delivery and worth of a girl child is a step in this direction. It
envisages promotion of awareness for early registration of pregnancy in the
first trimester at the Health Centres for pre-natal and post-natal care and
counselling of mothers. For this, it is imperative that community watch groups
like women panchayat members, trained teachers, youth groups, and other local
leaders be identified to act as facilitators.
With regard to ensuring enrolment of
girls in schools, the programme speaks of
activating School Management Committees for universal enrolment of girls
through special drives and creation of Balika Manches, or Girls' Forum, which
should help bring back drop outs.
Further, there is provision for
incentives and awards to the SMCs which enrol 100% girls at the primary level
and also retains them in the first year, and for transition of 100% girls from
class V into class VI, from class VIII to class IX and from class X to class XI.
The competition to encourage girl’s enrolment and retention is open to
all Government schools.
Apart from this, the campaign
proposes organising mass events like Naari Chaupal, Beti Janmotsav, and monthly celebration
of BBBP programme as an event other than observation of National Girl Child Day
and International Women’s Day for a sustained impact. To fight against
socio-cultural prejudices, it envisages mounting more girl or women-centric
festivities such as celebration of Lohri for the birth of a daughter, siblings
tying rakhis to each etc.
The sensitisation campaign should
hopefully also bring positive reinforcements in favour of a girl child like
daughters as providers of old age security to parents and the benefits of
simple weddings to protect parents from financial burden of dowry and equal property rights for
daughters and sons and prevention of early and child marriage.
The declining sex ratio is a cause
for concern and its persistence has serious implications for our society and
the future of humankind. Providing education to a girl child is to empower a
large section of the population. With the programmes focussed interventions in
100 gender critical districts, fingers will be kept crossed for it to make the
desired impact on the socio-cultural landscape of the country and pave the way
for inclusive and sustained growth. ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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