<p>There cannot be a more apt title because even a brilliant defence lawyer like Perry Mason would be at his wit's end to figure out how thousands of parents and doctors from an economically progressive India allow killing of lakhs of babies every year without batting an eyelid only because of their gender. The victims are all girls.<br /><br />The 2011 Census has shocked the national conscience. The number of baby girls (between 0-6 years) is down to 914 for every 1000 boys. This is the lowest since Independence. In as many as 27 states and union territories, the child sex ratio has declined as compared to 2001 Census figures. The states which have performed better in the last 10 years include two worst culprits – Punjab and Haryana. But their child sex ratio was so poor to start with that even the good performance could not help them to come out of the red.<br /><br />Its not that the grim truth was not known. The child sex ratio has been on a free fall since 1961. From 976 in1961, it declined to 954 in 1971; 952 in 1981, 945 in 1991 and 927 in 2001. At the turn of the last century (1901), the sex ratio was a healthy 972.<br /><br />Almost two decades back, a worried government enacted the Pre-conception and Prenatal Diagnostics Techniques (PC and PNDT) Act, 1994. Even though female foeticide was legally prohibited even under British rule, the legislation was made stronger.<br /><br />“Its a cultural bias, which will not go away unless women are empowered and are on an economically strong footing. Only then they can speak up against abortion and killing of girl child,” said Jyoti Vajpayee, senior technical adviser at Population Service International.<br /><br />Abetting technology<br /><br />Cultural shift takes years. Technological development is faster. New sex selection technologies came up in the last two decades and found ready takers among greedy doctors who were only too willing to pander to a society biased against the girl child, for a price.<br /><br />The Act was amended in 2003 following a Public Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court in 2000 to include regulation of new technologies capable of sex selection and enhance the punishment. The aim was to arrest the decline in the child sex ratio as revealed by the 2001 Census. But even a stronger legislation failed to make any impact. The law is still simply no deterrent as the rate of conviction is very low.<br /><br />According to Union health ministry data, only 55 doctors have been convicted so far out of only 805 cases filed since the law came into existence almost two decades ago. The remaining cases were either dropped due to shoddy investigation or prosecution lost due to poor defence. Most of the convictions have taken place in Haryana (23) followed by Punjab (22) and Gujarat (4). There are some stray conviction cases in Delhi and Chandigarh. That's about all.<br /><br />The highest number of sex selection cases against doctors was filed in Rajasthan (161), but none has resulted in conviction. Other states which filed cases are Maharashtra (139 cases), Punjab (112), Gujarat (82), Madhya Pradesh (70), Delhi (61), Uttar Pradesh and Haryana (54), Andhra Pradesh (19), Bihar (10), Chhattisgarh (5) and Chandigarh (2). But no conviction.<br /><br />“Clearly the law has not been implemented properly. Doctors are being let off despite committing such a serious medical crime. A genocide is on. Having desire for a boy is not illegal but killing a girl is,” said Punit Bedi, a practising gynaecologist at Indraprastha Apollo hospital.<br /><br />The law, for instance, has the provision for auditing ultrasound machines and checking patient records. It is hardly acted upon. Now, there are even mobile ultrasound machines to bring sex selection to your doorstep. But the government's focus remained on educating the masses and doctors rather than punishing the guilty.<br /><br />“Telling doctors not to do sex selection and foeticide is like asking the wolves to turn vegetarian. The government is also not serious about it because it considers sex selection a small price, which the nation is paying for its long-term goal of achieving population control,” thundered Bedi, who almost two decades back showed how foeticide continued unabated in affluent and upmarket South Delhi.<br />Neglect, an equal crime.<br /> <br />Killing girls in the womb is not the only reason for a declining child sex ratio. Neglect is equally important. Since girls are not treated on par with boys, parents tend to neglect their food, medicine and vaccination, resulting in many deaths. These deaths are not counted as female foeticide but the result remains the same - fall in the number of girls between 0-6 years.<br /><br />Following the census report, the government has reconstituted its central advisory panel and begun dialogue with the states, which have been instructed to set up district-level authorities to monitor the USG clinics. The manufacturers of USG machines have been asked to inform the government to whom they are selling the machines so that those clinics – both static and mobile – can be brought under vigil. But to show up positive results in Census 2021, the government needs to display its seriousness in implementing the law. Otherwise, girls will be unwelcome even in the 21st century.<br /><br /><a href="../content/156140/a-winner-leaves-girls-dreaming.html">A winner leaves girls dreaming big in this town</a><br /><br /><a href="../content/156142/rarest-rare-desert-bday-bash.html">Rarest of rare desert b’day bash</a><br /><br /><a href="../content/156138/supreme-court-takes-note.html">Supreme Court takes note</a><br /></p>.<table><tbody><tr><td> </td></tr> <tr> <td> <a href="../content/156135/one-child-norm-culprit.html">One-child norm the culprit</a></td></tr></tbody></table>.<a href="../content/156136/ap-rogue-state-south.html">AP, rogue state of South</a>.<a href="../content/156137/tns-killer-methods.html">TN’s killer methods</a>
<p>There cannot be a more apt title because even a brilliant defence lawyer like Perry Mason would be at his wit's end to figure out how thousands of parents and doctors from an economically progressive India allow killing of lakhs of babies every year without batting an eyelid only because of their gender. The victims are all girls.<br /><br />The 2011 Census has shocked the national conscience. The number of baby girls (between 0-6 years) is down to 914 for every 1000 boys. This is the lowest since Independence. In as many as 27 states and union territories, the child sex ratio has declined as compared to 2001 Census figures. The states which have performed better in the last 10 years include two worst culprits – Punjab and Haryana. But their child sex ratio was so poor to start with that even the good performance could not help them to come out of the red.<br /><br />Its not that the grim truth was not known. The child sex ratio has been on a free fall since 1961. From 976 in1961, it declined to 954 in 1971; 952 in 1981, 945 in 1991 and 927 in 2001. At the turn of the last century (1901), the sex ratio was a healthy 972.<br /><br />Almost two decades back, a worried government enacted the Pre-conception and Prenatal Diagnostics Techniques (PC and PNDT) Act, 1994. Even though female foeticide was legally prohibited even under British rule, the legislation was made stronger.<br /><br />“Its a cultural bias, which will not go away unless women are empowered and are on an economically strong footing. Only then they can speak up against abortion and killing of girl child,” said Jyoti Vajpayee, senior technical adviser at Population Service International.<br /><br />Abetting technology<br /><br />Cultural shift takes years. Technological development is faster. New sex selection technologies came up in the last two decades and found ready takers among greedy doctors who were only too willing to pander to a society biased against the girl child, for a price.<br /><br />The Act was amended in 2003 following a Public Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court in 2000 to include regulation of new technologies capable of sex selection and enhance the punishment. The aim was to arrest the decline in the child sex ratio as revealed by the 2001 Census. But even a stronger legislation failed to make any impact. The law is still simply no deterrent as the rate of conviction is very low.<br /><br />According to Union health ministry data, only 55 doctors have been convicted so far out of only 805 cases filed since the law came into existence almost two decades ago. The remaining cases were either dropped due to shoddy investigation or prosecution lost due to poor defence. Most of the convictions have taken place in Haryana (23) followed by Punjab (22) and Gujarat (4). There are some stray conviction cases in Delhi and Chandigarh. That's about all.<br /><br />The highest number of sex selection cases against doctors was filed in Rajasthan (161), but none has resulted in conviction. Other states which filed cases are Maharashtra (139 cases), Punjab (112), Gujarat (82), Madhya Pradesh (70), Delhi (61), Uttar Pradesh and Haryana (54), Andhra Pradesh (19), Bihar (10), Chhattisgarh (5) and Chandigarh (2). But no conviction.<br /><br />“Clearly the law has not been implemented properly. Doctors are being let off despite committing such a serious medical crime. A genocide is on. Having desire for a boy is not illegal but killing a girl is,” said Punit Bedi, a practising gynaecologist at Indraprastha Apollo hospital.<br /><br />The law, for instance, has the provision for auditing ultrasound machines and checking patient records. It is hardly acted upon. Now, there are even mobile ultrasound machines to bring sex selection to your doorstep. But the government's focus remained on educating the masses and doctors rather than punishing the guilty.<br /><br />“Telling doctors not to do sex selection and foeticide is like asking the wolves to turn vegetarian. The government is also not serious about it because it considers sex selection a small price, which the nation is paying for its long-term goal of achieving population control,” thundered Bedi, who almost two decades back showed how foeticide continued unabated in affluent and upmarket South Delhi.<br />Neglect, an equal crime.<br /> <br />Killing girls in the womb is not the only reason for a declining child sex ratio. Neglect is equally important. Since girls are not treated on par with boys, parents tend to neglect their food, medicine and vaccination, resulting in many deaths. These deaths are not counted as female foeticide but the result remains the same - fall in the number of girls between 0-6 years.<br /><br />Following the census report, the government has reconstituted its central advisory panel and begun dialogue with the states, which have been instructed to set up district-level authorities to monitor the USG clinics. The manufacturers of USG machines have been asked to inform the government to whom they are selling the machines so that those clinics – both static and mobile – can be brought under vigil. But to show up positive results in Census 2021, the government needs to display its seriousness in implementing the law. Otherwise, girls will be unwelcome even in the 21st century.<br /><br /><a href="../content/156140/a-winner-leaves-girls-dreaming.html">A winner leaves girls dreaming big in this town</a><br /><br /><a href="../content/156142/rarest-rare-desert-bday-bash.html">Rarest of rare desert b’day bash</a><br /><br /><a href="../content/156138/supreme-court-takes-note.html">Supreme Court takes note</a><br /></p>.<table><tbody><tr><td> </td></tr> <tr> <td> <a href="../content/156135/one-child-norm-culprit.html">One-child norm the culprit</a></td></tr></tbody></table>.<a href="../content/156136/ap-rogue-state-south.html">AP, rogue state of South</a>.<a href="../content/156137/tns-killer-methods.html">TN’s killer methods</a>
