Unique effort to curb foeticide in Sikar

REFORM District collector asks priests to ensure that during wedding, couples take additional vow against foeticide We asked the local priests to administer an additional vow to and help make the Beti Bachaao, Beti Padhaao schemes a success. This will go a long way in preventing female foeticide

NARESH KUMAR THAKRAL , district collector JAIPUR:

The Sikar administration has taken a unique step to curb the practice of female foeticide. Sikar district collector Naresh Kumar Thakral has asked local priests to ensure that couples take an additional vow during their wedding, promising not to carry out female foeticide.

In a meeting held on Tuesday, which 25 local priests attended, Thakral made them aware of the menace of female foeticide and asked for their help in making the government’s Beti Bachao scheme a success.

The Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme aims at checking female infanticide and educating the girl child. It was launched in 2015 and focuses on the districts in the country with the worst child sex ratio (CSR) as per the 2011 Census.

Rajasthan, which has a history of female foeticide, has one of the worst CSR in the country —less than 900 in 18 districts. The ratio is worse in Sikar and Jhunjhunu where the CSR was less than 850. Other notorious districts are Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bharatpur and Karauli.

“We asked the local priests to administer an additional vow to and help make the Beti Bachaao, Beti Padhaao schemes a success. This will go a long way in preventing female foeticide,” Thakral said.

The state is infamous for sex determination and sex selective abortion with frequent cases of medical practitioners, touts, and midwives being involved in sex determination tests. The archaic social structure has always given preference to a male child over female. The state also has a high maternal mortality rate of 445 per 1,00,000 live births. The birth of a girl child means bad news mainly due to the dowry system prevalent in Rajasthan.

While the Pre Conception and Pre Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act (PCPNDT) bureau has been given the power to conduct investigations and make arrests as part of its investigations, the cases of sex determination tests are being reported with regular frequency.

In July this year, the Rajasthan Medical Council suspended the registration of 12 doctors for alleged violation of PCPNDT Act. Five doctors were involved in sex selection and they provided information about the sex of the foetus.

Rajasthan government had set up a separate fast-track court for cases related to sex selection and other offences under the PCPNDT Act 1994, but the conviction rate has been poor.