By IANS
Chandigarh : Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda Friday symbolically drove a special vehicle that will collect millions of signatures across the state as part of a campaign against female foeticide.
The campaign initiated by the Janmajey Jan Kalyan charitable trust, a non-government organisation, will be taken across the state to sensitise people against female foeticide.
Instead of flagging off the vehicle at a ceremony at his residence, Hooda chose to drive it to mark the start of the campaign.
Haryana has one of the worst sex ratios in the country – just above 800 females per 1,000 males.
Youths from the state travel to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa and Kerala, and even to neighbouring country Nepal, in search of brides.
Hooda appreciated the campaign by the NGO, saying that although there are laws against female foeticide, public awareness is vital to eradicate this immoral practice.
He said the state’s health department has been making concerted efforts to check the malpractice of sex determination by doctors illegally.
“Ours is the only state in the country to secure conviction of two doctors for doing sex determination tests,” he added.