By Pravakar Sahoo
The 2001 Census revealed a drastic fall in sex ratio in India . In spite of all the stringent laws framed to curb female foeticide, the practice continues. The declining sex ratio between boys and girls poses a serious threat to the very existence of human life on earth.

According to Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, which came into effect on February 14, 2003 as a replacement of PC&PNDT Act 2002, any kind of sex selection in pre or post pregnancy is prohibited.

If any person seeks the help for sex selection, he/she can face imprisonment of three years and can be required to pay a fine of Rs 50,000. If any doctor is found guilty of this malpractice, he can face suspension of his registration by the state medical council. But these Acts seem not to be casting much effect on the dark shades of human deeds.

A booklet published by the United Nations Population Fund and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on mapping the adverse child sex ratio in India in 2003 speaks that in many regions of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan the sex ratio of girls for every 1000 boys was mere 745 or 754 or at 779 respectively.

In a desire for a male child many female foetuses are aborted every year and now this has become a trend.

It is definitely a pathetic situation where raising a girl child is so difficult for these people as they consider her a 'burden' and 'troublesome'.

Earlier when we did not have the technology to know about the sex of the foetus, the girl child used to be killed by putting a sand bag on her face or strangulating her or some poison used to be applied on the breasts of the mother. What adds more to it is that neither mothers nor their family members used to express any kind of sorrow on the deaths of their baby daughters. Probably they had no choice themselves but to submit to society's pressures.

Now the scenario has changed. With the help of new technologies one can easily detect the sex of the foetus. So the practice of female infanticide has been replaced by female foeticide.

Many of us must be thinking that such practice is prevalent only among illiterate people who consider the boy child as `Kuldeepak'. But this is not true.

According to a survey, an increase of 28.32 percent has been witnessed in the number of working women in last two decades. But at the same time, what is more shameful is that the subsequent increase has also been registered in the number of pregnancy terminations or abortions by working women.

The reasons stated behind this practice are: they want a small family; they want better career prospects; they want a male child and they do not want daughters. Many of these women justify sex selection and abortions because they think that if they deliver a baby boy then they are looked upon in the family. Also, they do not want their daughters to suffer the hardships a girl has to face. Besides that they find themselves unable to afford the dowry expenses the parents of a girl child have to bear. "Since maintaining the high living standards has become so expensive, who will save for her?"

Let us look at Odisha. The situation is better. According to 2001 Census the fall of sex ratio in India is 933 female per 1000 male. In Orissa the figure is 972. Similarly the child sex ratio of age group of 0-6 years in Odisha is 953 as against the national figure of 927.

Advanced medical technologies like commonly used ultrasonography and amniocentesis are misused for parental sex determination leading to female foeticide and decline of child sex ratio.

Such an imbalance in sex ratio would result in increased violence against women in form of forced polyandry, rapes, abductions, sell and purchase of brides which will lead to an increasingly violent in society also.

The Odisha government has taken very strong action and determined steps to control such activities. State Advisory Committee, State Supervisory Board and Multi Member State Appropriate Authority have been formed.

Collector & District Magistrates have been declared as the District Appropriate Authority and Sub-Divisional Magistrates at Subdivision level.

The government has also formed State Task Force Committee under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary. Periodic meetings are held to monitor crack down on ultrasound clinics and nursing homes.

District Task force Committees headed by Collector & District Magistrates as Chairman have also been formed. The Committee has constituted squads to visit the ultrasound clinics and verify the validity of registration, maintenance of records and other relevant facts required under PC & PNDT Act.

Regular IEC activities of various provisions of PNDT & MTP Act and punishment for violators in different medias have been taken up by Health & Family Welfare Department.

The question is where are we heading? A land where there would be no girl. But don't we know without woman, life would cease to exist on this earth. Time has come to stop sex selection and let girls be born.