Dear Editor,
At a time when women are breaching male bastions and contributing equally towards national development, it is highly condemnable that they are still beset with many ills. Despite laws against sex determination and sex-selective abortions, unborn daughters continue to be eliminated in large numbers in northern states. The skewed gender ratio is a challenging problem that has attracted widespread criticism. It has its genesis in the preference for a male child that is deeply ingrained in the Indian psyche because cultural norms value sons over daughters for a variety of social and economic reasons. It is encouraging that, of late, judiciary has also become proactive to address the underlying concern. In a benchmark judgement, the Bombay High Court has upheld that prenatal gender determination implies female foeticide and violates a woman’s right to live and is hence, anti-Constitutional. The Apex Court has asked to complete the trial of cases registered under the PCPNDT Act within four months to ensure that action does not fail due to technical flaws and give a blaze of publicity to its directions. Full compliance with the law and proper implementation of government programmes and initiatives will surely check gender imbalance and save the country from serious demographic and social repercussions impacting its civilisation in entirety.
Rohini Sharma
Dinga Amb, Kathua