Alarm bells started ringing when the Census 2001 data was released. It revealed a drastic fall in the sex ratio, especially the child sex ratio. Whereas the overall sex ratio dropped from 934 to 920 per 1000 males, the child sex ratio fell shockingly from 928 to 883 in Gujarat. Mehsana, which is one of the most prosperous districts of the state, had the lowest child sex ratio of 798. This came as a rude shock for one of the most developed states of India. However the child sex ratio improved in the census 2011 from 883 to 886 there is a slight drop in adult sex ratio from 920 to 918 in current census
It is well known fact that socio-cultural factors and practices, such as the status of women, patriarchal structure of the society, preference for a son, fear of dowry and the belief that it is the son who can look after the old parents and so on are the main reasons for adverse sex ratio. Therefore, the Government of Gujarat did not lose time and chalked out a three-pronged strategy to tackle the problem of female feticide.
All ministers and MLAs have organized rallies in the sensitive areas and they sensitize people as a part of public awareness about the effective implementation of the PC & PNDT Act because the improvement in sex ratio is not only important for overall development of the country but is also important to show our state as a model state. The people of Gujarat has welcome this initiative and as a part of this 10 lac people from Patel community gathered in Surat to take an oath to stop the female feticide. A seminar has been organized between 28/11/09 to 2/12/09 at “Shri Umiya mataji 18th century golden jubilee function which has been attended by more than 50 lakh people. Hon’ble Minister of Health has organized a meeting with religious leaders on 20/05/2010 at circuit house ahmedabad to boost the Beti Vadhao Abhiyan.
In Gujarat during social meetings and in group marriages, people take oath to not indulge in sex selection and stop female feticide. Even in school and colleges the teachers used to sensitize the youths about the sex ratio and female feticide as these youths are future parents.
The state has identified District Collectors & CDHOs as a District Appropriate authority in PC & PNDT Act and in each district the district advisory committees has been formed to monitor the sex ratio in district and take necessary action to make a improvement in this. |