|
Girls
get set to fight for a better future
Somewhere
along the road from Delhi to Rohtak, one comes across unending herds
of emaciated, heavily horned cattle, ambling aimlessly in a haze
of dust, almost oblivious to the prods of their red-turbanned minders
who dance in and out of the masses of horns and hooves.
Unlike
this apparition from neighbouring drought-hit Rajasthan, Haryana
appears almost prosperous. Today, its wheat has been harvested and
the newly shorn fields stretch on, pockmarked with small industrial
units. But paradoxes are part of life here, as recent census data
reveals.
Only
77.55 per cent of households have toilets and 78 per cent are dependent
on firewood and and cow dung for cooking fuel. But demographers
are most worried with its population that is galloping at a rate
far higher than the national — 28.06 per cent compared with
the national 21.34.
A study by the Rohtak-based research centre, SEARCH, four years
ago showed that families here continue to have children until they
have enough surviving sons. So small families have more sons and
large families have more daughters. There are women who have gone
through six to nine pregnancies just to bear one or two sons.
Some
medical practitioners have seized upon the trend to justify female
foeticide. They argue it is better than allow unwanted girls to
swell the family size. But this is a perverse argument that does
little to contain the burgeoning numbers.
Says
Rohtak’s district commissioner R.K. Khullar: ‘‘We
have realised that managing family size and discouraging female
foeticide have to be addressed in a holistic fashion. Mere legislation
and seeking ban on sex determination tests are not enough. To this
day, no one has been booked for this crime. Social engineering via
legislation can’t take you far.’’
That’s why, Khullar says, Haryana has tried to follow the total
reproductive health approach. ‘‘We now provide money to
panchayats to transport pregnant women in rural areas to hospitals.
We are trying to strengthen community health centres to handle emergencies
and perform caesareans.
The
idea is to encourage people to have well-planned families.’’
Incidentally, in 1994, Haryana came up with the ‘‘Apni
Beti Apna Dhan’’ scheme which provides Rs 500 for every
infant girl born to families below the poverty line within 15 days
of delivery.
An amount of Rs 2,500 is invested in Indira Vikas Patra certificates
and given to parents. At 18, if the girl is unmarried and has passed
the class V exams, she is entitled to Rs 27,000.
But no one knows how effective this scheme has been. There are suspicions
too that corruption has rendered it ineffectual. Yet pressure is
building on state authorities to act. Even before the latest census
figures came in, Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala issued a ‘‘special
message’’ to his compatriots.
In flowery language that extolls the virtues of motherhood, it reminded
people that sex determination is illegal and both sons and daughters
should be welcomed as God’s gift. Today, the message hangs
outside the ultrasound rooms of public hospitals as a small flag
of good intention.
And
the recent census data has called for stronger action. So the Haryana
health department has directed all its civil surgeons to step up
vigil on private clinics in their districts and stop sex determination
tests.
But the real hope for the future lies in women themselves. Says
women’s activist Jagmati Sangwan: ‘‘In our cities
and smaller towns, young women now want to study and earn. They
may be the first woman in the family to complete the 10th standard
exams, but they want to do an employment-oriented diploma. They
tell me they want to learn computers.’’
In a state where only 2.29 per cent of the people study up to graduation
and beyond and only 0.51 per cent have any technical education,
these aspirations are valuable. They speak of change.
The sight of teenage girls, astride their bicycles, confidently
making their way through Rohtak’s streets echoes the change.
|
