Haryana’s daughters get a second chance
Societal pressure, fear of the law and the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign give them a fresh lease of life
DOCHANA (MAHENDERGARH): On a recent afternoon, a group of girls was playing in the playground of a primary school at Dochana village in Haryana’s Mahendergarh — a surprisingly happy picture, given that the district’s skewed sex ratio is the worst in the state.
There was a time when Mahendergarh’s girls were aborted, abandoned, or worse, killed but societal pressure, fear of the law and the government’s signature Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign to save and educate the girl child has given Haryana’s daughters a fresh lease of life.
From a sex ratio at birth of 770 girls for 1,000 boys in 2012, the district’s count rose to 864:1000 in September 2017. That’s a major improvement in a state that had one of the poorest sex ratios in the country between 2011 and 2015.
Dochana’s government school is symbolic of the turnaround since Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign in Haryana in January 2015.
For the first time, 40 of the 81 students in the school, which has classes up to the fourth standard, are girls, head teacher Sushma Sharma said.
According to accredited social health activist Raj Bala, 26 boys and nine girls were born in 2014 in the village bordering Jhunjhunu of Rajasthan. In 2015, 25 boys and 13 girls were born.
But a remarkable about-turn happened in 2016. Dochana recorded the birth of 22 girls and 14 boys. And till October this year, another 22 girls were born. The number of newborn boys was eight.
Vikas Singh, the son of a former sarpanch, recently became the father of a second daughter. “My elder son has a daughter and Vikas has two girls. Their families are complete,” a pleased grandfather Bharat Singh said.
Having two daughters underscores the change in mindset of a largely patriarchal society obsessed with a male heir. Daughters, the ones that were once allowed to be born, were once considered a liability.
The change has been slow but steady. Haryana, ranked second-lowest in terms of child sex ratio at 819 girls for every 1,000 boys in the 2001 census, was the lowest among states with 834 girls in 2011.
The state ranked at the bottom in terms of sex ratio at birth, with 857 girls for every 1000 boys, according to the 2012 sample registration system statistical report. This number was 868 in 2013, 871 in 2014 and 876 in 2015.
India has banned doctors, hospitals and their staff from revealing a child’s gender during prenatal examinations to prevent the rampant practice of female foeticide. The country also has strict anti-dowry laws.
After the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign was launched, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar set up a secretariat in May 2015 to monitor the drive against female foeticide. Awareness campaigns and a crackdown on illegal sex determination tests were also done.
More than 500 FIRs were registered for illegal sex determination or abortion and over 1,000 people, including doctors and paramedics, were jailed.
In Rewari, the district with the third-worst sex ratio in Haryana, the administration has played its part with awareness campaigns and raids to seal unauthorised ultrasonography units. Deputy civil surgeon Sarvjeet Singh said his teams sealed 18 centres in two years and 30 of around 63 shut down fearing arrest.
But the sex ratio in Haryana’s countryside isn’t just improving because of the fear of imprisonment for female foeticide and dowry demand. It’s because of the social stigma such actions entail.
The buzz across the state now is: “Chhora, chhori mein koi farak koni, ur ib to subne ne bera laag gya ke chhoriyon ke kum hone se nukshaan ke ke se (Girls are no less than boys, people have realised it’s their loss if there are fewer girls).”
Haryana’s daughters, too, are helping the cause — from international medal-winning wrestlers Sakshi Malik and the Phogat sisters to Miss World Manushi Chhillar of Jhajjar.
The change is palpable. In Dhamlawas, the village with the poorest sex ratio in Rewari since 2014, young couple Naresh Yadav and Rinku recently had a second daughter. “Kyun khushi na hogi, chhe salaan baad aayi se Lakshmi (Why shouldn’t we be happy? Goddess Lakshmi has come home after six years,” Yadav’s mother, Sharda Devi, said.
In Rohtak’s Bhali village, constable Jitender Singh and wife Renu performed “kuan pujan”, a ritual at the village well on the birth of a son. His younger brother, Narender, who has twins, a son and a daughter, both two years old, said his family, including parents Bhup Singh and Kamla, believe daughters are no less than sons. Rohtak has the second-worst sex ratio and Bhali, the poorest count in the district.
At Mundri village in Kaithal district, which had the fourth-worst sex ratio till 2014, sarpanch Krishan Kumar is more than 30 years old and still a bachelor because there are hardly any suitable brides in his Ror community.
The tide is turning here too. Many couples had daughters this year. Deepak and Sunita, both graduates, had a second daughter. They say daughters are more caring than sons. Deepak is a farmer with a small land holding and runs a coaching centre in the village to supplement his income.
Chhora, chhori mein koi farak koni, ur ib to subne ne bera laag gya ke chhoriyon ke kum hone se nukshaan ke ke se (Girls are no less than boys, people have realised it’s their loss if there are fewer girls).
A POPULAR REFRAIN ACROSS HARYANA
› Kyun khushi na hogi, chhe salaan baad aayi se Lakshmi (Why shouldn’t we be happy? Goddess Lakshmi has come home after six years.
SHARDA DEVI, mother of Naresh Yadav, who got a second daughter recently, in Dhamlawas, the village with the poorest sex ratio in Rewari