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Tribune News Service
Hisar, June 29
The child sex ratio in two Hisar villages has set the alarms bell ringing for the state authorities which are trying hard to improve the skewed gender ratio in the state.
The ratio of 273 girls per 1,000 boys was recorded at Mujadpur village in the Hansi block during 2014-15.
Similarly, a ratio of 385:1,000 was registered in Balak village of Barwala block during the same period. The figures have come as a big setback to the “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In an attempt to improve the child sex ratio (CSR) in Haryana, which is at the bottom of the chart in the country with male-female ratio 874:1,000, the PM chose to launch the campaign from Panipat town in Haryana. He has urged the khap panchayats and other social organisations to intensify the campaign.
Hisar has an average ratio of 877:1,000. However, the figures of these two villages from April 2014 to March 2015 have sent depressing signals to the campaign.
While the authorities are in a tizzy, the villagers are surprised at the newfound notoriety. A team of the district administration led by project officer, Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), Poonam Raman visited the village to get a snap survey on such low sex ratio in the village.
Dr Yogendra Malik, adviser to Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for promotion of the scheme, would hold a meeting in Hisar tomorrow to discuss the issue.
However, Mujadpur village sapranch Indira Devi maintained that she had no idea about such low sex ratio in the village. “I had no idea that the gender ratio is imbalanced in the village as there is no discrimination between boys and girls in the village,” she said while rejecting the apprehensions of sex selection and female foeticide.
She, however, admitted that the village panchayat had not organised any campaign about spreading awareness against female foeticide.
An anganwari worker, Nirmala Devi, too expressed surprised over hugely imbalanced figures stating that she had been keeping a regular tab on all impregnated women in the village. “I never heard about any illegal activities of sex test of foetus or abortions in the village. A couple of abortions had taken place, but there were medical reasons behind those cases. Moreover, since January to this day, five girls were born against one boy child in my region,” she maintained.
A former chairman belonging to the village, Yoginder Yogi, who has been carrying out campaigns against social evils in the village, too was dismissive of activities that could lead to big imbalance.
“Ours is a Jat-dominated village, which is located about 28 km from the Hisar district headquarters,” he said.
Deputy Commissioner Chander Shekhar Khare, while admitting that the figures have shocked him, said the administration would take requisite steps to check if there were any activities in violation of the PNDT Act anywhere in the district. “The special task force would take a stern view of the existing situation and mull steps to crack down on anti-social elements and also to spread awareness on equality of girls and boys,” he added.
Sex determination racket busted, 2 held
Hisar: The Hisar police have busted an illegal sex determination centre running in a private hospital in Hisar even though the doctor running the racket had formed a chain of multiple tiers to avoid getting caught. The police ploy to rope in a three-month pregnant constable as a decoy customer to lure the accused doctor resulted in success of the operation. However, the accused doctor, Dr Praveen Kumar of Chudamani hospital, managed to give a slip to the police during the raid. Two other agents identified as Dharmender and Jaibeer were arrested from the spot. Inspector General of Police (IGP) Anil Kumar Rao said the team carried out undercover operation on a tip-off. —Deepender Deswal, TNS
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