Widespread concern over India's missing girls.

The ratio of boys to girls in India is becoming increasingly skewed in favour of boys, as more and more girls are being selectively aborted or killed. Consolidated data released by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on Oct 29 revealed a shocking decline in the number of girls compared with boys during the past 10 years, mainly as a result of abortion of female fetuses and killing of newborn girls.

While India's population rises, the ratio of girls to boys is in steep decline. Between 1991 and 2001, the number of girls per 1000 boys fell from 945 to 927, for the 0-6 years age group. In states such as Haryana, Punjab, and Delhi, this number has sunk below 900; it is a mere 770 in Kurukshetra district in Haryana state.

"These findings reveal an alarming trend", said Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, head of the UNFPA. Poignantly titled Missing . . ., the report states: "A stage may soon come when it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to make up for the missing girls." It continues: "Society needs to recognise this discrimination; girls have a right to live just as boys do. Moreover, missing numbers of either sex, and the resulting imbalance, can destroy the social fabric."

Traditionally, Indian families prefer sons because they are responsible for keeping the family name. In some areas, girls are killed soon after birth, by inhuman methods like putting them in sand bags or throttling them. Female infanticide is still a problem in states such as Tamil Nadu. But newer diagnostic techniques have lent sophistication to this practice, enabling son-seeking parents to kill female fetuses in utero.

However, experts say that a strong son preference alone is not enough to explain large-scale female feticide. Increasing access to medical technology, facilitated by improved roads that enable people to visit urban areas, or mobile doctors to visit rural areas, are important factors.

"When we combine access to medical technology with ability to pay, we get a clue to the sharp decline in child sex ratio in states such as Punjab and Haryana", points out demographer Ashish Bose. These states are among the most prosperous in the country. This may also explain the rarity of female feticide in poor, backward states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Although the government banned sex determination in 1996, the law remained largely unenforced until health activists and NGOs sought intervention of the Supreme Court. The court not only pulled up state governments but also directed the health ministry to amend the law to include preconception sex-selection techniques.

"The law is now reasonably adequate with enough teeth, provided the state is willing to act. The Supreme Court has passed strictures against some states, but we know that this issue is not on the priority list of state governments", said Ravi Duggal from the Mumbai-based NGO, Center for Enquiry into Health and Allied Themes, one of the petitioners in the court.

Education is essential to help change family attitudes to the sex of their children. "The public must be taught about XY chromosomes, and the father's role in determining the sex of the male child must be emphasised to prevent women being blamed for giving birth to girls", suggested Mira Shiva (Voluntary Health Association of India), who recently co-authored a report on female feticide in India.

Professional organisations like the Indian Medical Association and the Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI) have launched campaigns against female feticide, but these were short lived. Duggal believes the responses from the medical profession are not very forthcoming. "FOGSI showed some interest and talked about it briefly but it has not really tried to educate its members", he says.

However, FOGSI asserts it has taken several important steps; one of which involved writing to all its 18 000 members asking them to refrain from using ultrasound for sex selection. But it feels that its members are being harassed for trivial matters like forgetting to sign forms that are a legal requirement. "A single officer cannot be given an authority to put a reputed doctor behind bars or confiscate his/her ultrasound machine. The matter must be looked into by an expert committee, otherwise it will invite corruption", said Sadhna Desai, federation president.

PHOTO (COLOR): A hospital sign in New Delhi, India warns: "pre-natal sex determinations is not done. It is a punishable act"

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By Dinesh C. Sharma