Gender ratio improves, but old mindset persists

Parveen Arora

The gender ratio in Karnal district has been constantly improving every year but the mindset of people is still of the medieval age, as some of them do not prefer daughters. There have been instances of newborn baby girls found abandoned in bushes and garbage bins, and now they are also being left in the cradle baby centre (‘palna’ house) at the entrance of the MDD Bal Bhawan, an orphanage in the city that started functioning on November 14, 2014. It is an initiative of the state government to provide shelter to abandoned children.

So far, the ‘palna’ house has received 10 abandoned infants, eight of them girls. It shows that despite the efforts of the government to promote the welfare of girl child, people still prefer sons.

“We have so far received 10 newborns, including eight girls, in the ‘palna’ house since it started functioning. Under the state government scheme, we have installed a cradle at the entrance of the orphanage and whenever anyone leaves a child in it, a bell automatically rings and we come to know that a baby has arrived,” says PR Nath, founder general secretary of MDD Bal Bhawan. 

At least with this facility, people prefer not to kill baby girls and instead leave them in the cradle, he adds.

Umesh Chanana, chairman of Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Karnal, says that there are some people who want to adopt baby girls. “Whenever we receive a girl child in the cradle baby centre, people come to us to adopt her. It is a good sign for society, but there is a procedure for adoption,” he adds.

Chanana says that anyone wanting to adopt a child has to approach the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) or the State Adoption Resource Authority (SARA) for registration. 

Parminder Pal Singh, president of MDD Bal Bhawan, says that whenever they receive a child, his or her proper health check up is done with the permission of the CWC Chairman. “After the permission of the Chairman, we shift the child to the State Adoption Resource Authority,” he adds.

The district health authorities have also received seven cases of baby girls or female foetuses being abandoned. In the last four years, two newborn baby girls were found in Taraori, a female foetus was found in Gharaunda, and two foetuses were detected in Karnal city, while a couple killed their daughter and dumped her body in a canal, says Dr Rajinder Kumar, Deputy Civil Surgeon, Karnal.

He says that at present the gender ratio in the district is 901 (January to July), while it was 834 in 2010. The health authorities have made efforts to educate people to save the girl child. After the PCPNDT Act came into force, a stringent check is being kept on doctors and quacks conducting the gender determination test. “We have got 31 FIRs registered under the PCPNDT Act in Haryana, and four FIRs in Uttar Pradesh for gender determination tests. Besides, 22 FIRs have been registered under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act,” he adds.

The Deputy Civil Surgeon says that seven persons have been sentenced under the PCPNDT Act and five under the MTP Act. These steps have helped in improving the gender ratio.

Unsavoury incidents 

• On August 26, 2015, a couple of Fafrana village in Assandh block allegedly killed their newborn baby girl and threw her body in a canal. To hide their crime, they concocted a story that a baby boy was born but he died immediately after birth and was buried at Saffidon in Jind district. 
• On October 11, 2015, dogs were found eating a foetus dumped in a heap of garbage near the Sunday market in Sector 12. 
• On January 30, 2017, an around six-month-old female foetus was found in the toilet of the Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College.
• On October 21, 2017, a newborn baby girl was found in a garbage dump near SD Mandir in Gharaunda. 
• On March 19, 2018, a four-month-old foetus was found in a sewerage manhole in Samshadbagh Colony of Karnal city. 
• On February 20, 2019, a newborn baby girl was found outside the Model Town Gurdwara.

Left in cradle

• Date                        Age of child 
• December 7, 2014        Two-day old 
• March 31, 2015        Five-day old 
• October 15, 2015       Three-year old 
• December 12, 2015       One-day old  
• July 31, 2016               One-year old  
• July 7, 2017               Two-day old  
• July 5, 2018              Two-year old   
• August 8, 2019      Two-day old  

Rising graph

• Year Gender ratio
• 2010 834
• 2011 849
• 2012 847
• 2013 880
• 2014 886
• 2015 897
• 2016 909
• 2017 922
• 2018 934
• 2019 (till July) 901