The event, which was dedicated to Kalpana Chawla, was attended by dignitaries like Mangala Sridhar, the Chairperson of Karnataka Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation; Rani Satish, former Minister of Kannada and Culture; and Lata Krishna Rao, the Principal Secretary of Secondary Education.
The purpose of the event was to honour the achievements of women who have made an impact and inspired others to follow in their footsteps. It also touched upon serious topics like female foeticide and the declining sex ratio.
The event commenced with a short curtain raiser performed by Sama, a young girl. She recited a poem written from the perspective of an aborted female foetus, who addresses her mother from paradise. R T Kumar, who was moderating the discussion, then spoke about the dangers of gender discrimination in India. He highlighted the need for society to do more than simply talk about this issue.
Despite the constant work of NGOs and government programmes, the sex ratio in our country is at its lowest since 1991. M B Jayaram, the Chairperson of PRCI, says, “Clearly, awareness hasn’t trickled down to those sections of society where female foeticide is most rampant. Merely discussing the matter, or shifting blame isn’t going to help the situation. It’s important to take another step forward, like publishing ads to create more awareness.”
But who should these measures be targeted at? Dr Priti Venkatesh, a consultant working in the Department of Foetal Medicine in Manipal Hospital, cites some statistics that might hold the answers. “Prevention of pre -natal sex determination, which was enacted nearly two decades ago, has created some positive change. However, the overall situation is still bad, especially in rural and semi-rural areas,” she says.
Dr Priti Venkatesh explained that in any society, the sex ratio should technically favour the females by default, as they are more robust and have a longer life-span than men. The fact that this is not the case in India is a testament to the number of foeticide and infanticide cases. “Interestingly, sex ratios do not approve in affluent areas.
In fact, Delhi has one of the lowest sex ratios in the country. On the other hand, areas with a higher literate and educated population, like Kerala and Puducherry, have correspondingly high sex ratios,” she says.
The event also included a felicitation ceremony, which honoured the achievements of women who had inspired others to follow in their footsteps. The members of the panel, including Vaishali Kasturi, Dr Priti Venkatesh, Roopa Iyer, a film director and actor and Sandhya Vasudevan were all given awards. Several media personalities and radio jockeys were also felicitated.