JOIN USA winner leaves girls dreaming big in this town
This small town Jhajjar girl has left all girls dreaming big. But behind all the glitz and tinsel town dreams lies the big glitch - a sordid reality. She represents a place which has recorded the worst child sex ratio in the country at a shocking 774 girls per 1000 boys. The paradox is hard to ignore by any means. Kanishtha’s grandparents and relatives still live in the village in Jhajjar, battling this irony of sorts.
Yet, both Haryana and Punjab are basking in the “glory” of improved child sex ratio - in case of Haryana a meagre 11-point increase since last census ten years ago.
Despite the marginal increase, both these northern states continue to be among the bottom “poor performer” states. Jhajjar’s dubious distinction in child sex ratio indicates the rampant female foeticide that goes unabated in the area. Two villages in Jhajjar district, Bahrana and Dimana - again in close proximity to New Delhi - have recorded even worse child sex ratio, hitting rock bottom on the charts.
The ‘missing daughters’ number in Haryana and Punjab point to one noticeable correlation, that between literacy levels and child sex ratio. At first rational thought, you strike the obvious link - that a high literacy level will have a healthy high sex ratio. That’s not true. Census data reveals that the child sex ratio is highest in districts which have the lowest literacy levels. Both Jhajjar and Mahendergarh, which are worst hit, have shown a significant rise in literacy levels, especially among women, yet have the worst child sex ratio. “It‘s a correlation too obvious to ignore,” Neerja Sekhar, director, Census operations, Haryana said. The taint of foeticide, indicated in the low child sex ratio, has been Haryana and Punjab’s blemish since decades, just that the inconsequential increase in provisional census figures this time have indicated, perhaps, a positive beginning and not the end.
Both states face an inescapable fallout. Youths of marriageable age are finding it hard to get a bride because of the imbalance. Nachattar Singh of Zira in Punjab has been looking for a suitable match for his son for the last three years, but to no avail. “I can only be patient. Either you have married girls in the village or girls smaller in age,” he said.
In neighbouring Haryana, the situation is even more grim, given that there is a huge list of do’s and don’ts prescribed by self-styled Khap panchayats who dictate terms on ‘who to marry’ and ‘who not to marry’. Bala Devi of Karnal village has four sons, all of marriageable age, yet all single. The practice of “buying” a bride from other states like Kerala, Assam and Bengal is common.
Surprisingly, in Punjab the sex ratio in Bathinda district - a parliamentary constituency represented by the Chief Minister’s daughter-in-law and MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal - is one of the lowest in the state.
Curious case of missing daughters