I had heard this about the sex determination technology - was being used primarily to figure out whether it is a girl child and if so, forcing the woman to do an abortion.
I believe the law was changed to allow sex determination only when there was a medication condition, that required it. However, I would not be surprised if that rule is more flouted than not. >From: Chan Mahanta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: Foeticide slur on posh Delhi / From ToI >Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2002 22:56:34 -0500 > >What do netters think of this ? > > > > > > > > >Foeticide slur on posh Delhi > >KALPANA JAIN >TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2002 11:04:04 PM ] > >NEW DELHI: After Punjab and Haryana, Delhi too provides statistical proof >that the wealthier the area, the greater the discrimination against the >girl child. The latest data to emerge from the 2001 census reveal that the >areas in Delhi with the largest number of 'missing' girls - girls who are >never born because of female foeticide - are also some of the most posh >ones. This is reflected in abysmally low child sex ratios. >The sex ratio for any age group is defined as the number of females per >1000 males in that cohort. A sub-district break-up of child sex ratio data >in Delhi done by the census authorities shows areas such as Hauz Khas, >Defence Colony, Model Town and Punjabi Bagh as the worst offenders. >In some of these areas, there are less than 850 girls per 1000 boys aged >six and below. Other areas which do poorly are Delhi's traditional Jat >villages like Najafgarh and Narela. >A normal sex ratio always shows more women than men but only 10 districts >in the country qualify as normal. South district in Sikkim has the highest >sex ratio of 1036, while Sonipat in Haryana has the lowest at 783. >Experts are clear that the large number of 'missing' girls, evident in the >child sex ratio in Delhi, is indicative of rampant female foeticide in >these areas. Even if some adjustments are to be made in some areas - such >as the industrial belt or cantonment areas - for migration, the large gap >in sex ratios cannot be explained. As it is, the 2001 census showed that >child sex ratio in Delhi declined steeply - from 945 in 1991 to 865. >Demographer A R Nanda explains that in Delhi one needs to take out factors >such as migration stream and people coming in only with the male child. >Undernumeration of girls can be another factor as parents simply forget to >count their girls when the census man visits them. >''But even then, foeticide would be a factor for the missing girls, >particularly in prosperous areas. In these places, people are trying to >limit their family size to two or even one,'' he says. >So Hauz Khas shows a child sex ratio as low as 841 and Vasant Vihar 865, >with Defence Colony only slightly better at 883. Only Daryaganj, Sadar >Bazar and Kotwali areas have a child sex ratio that is above 900. >Daryaganj, with a ratio of 936, is the best in Delhi. >''One is not surprised,'' says Mira Shiva at the Voluntary Health >Association of India. ''It is the educated who are making the maximum use >of (sex determination) technology.'' The fact that educated mothers are >willing to abort the girl child only reflects the social conditioning of >women. ''Till the mother of a baby girl is respected, this practice will >not change,'' she adds. >The decline of child sex ratios is causing serious concern. Census 2001 >showed a decline of 18 percentage points from 945 to 927 during 1991 to >2001. The decline was much higher in the economically developed states of >Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi and Chandigarh. _________________________________________________________________ Join the world�s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com
