Rally against female foeticide in Delhi

By IANS

New Delhi : Nearly 250 people took part in a rally that was held Tuesday to sensitise people against female foeticide in west Delhi, which has one of the most dismal sex ratio figures in the capital.


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Organised in Punjabi Bagh by the Centre for Social Research (CSR) in association with the ministry of health and family welfare, the rally included residents of the neighbourhood, activists and ministry officials.

The event was part of the ‘Meri Shakti, Meri Beti’ (My Strength, My Daughter) campaign of CSR and the ministry that was launched in 2007 to protect the girl child in Delhi.

The focus areas of this project are Narela, Punjabi Bagh and Najafgarh in west Delhi, with respective sex ratios of 828, 842, and 841 women per 1,000 men.

Ranjana Kumari, director of CSR, said that only a collective effort by people could combat the social evil of female foeticide.

“Only a collective force of citizen partnership can help combat female foeticide in the society. The shameful practice of sex selective abortions can only be checked when the whole community takes the responsibility of protecting the girl child and not just a handful of people working towards the empowerment of women,” Kumari said.

According to the 2001 census, the sex ratio in India stood at 927 women per 1,000 men. In Delhi, the situation was even graver with only 868 women per 1,000 men.

The sex ratio is the worst in Vasant Vihar of south Delhi, where some of the city’s most affluent live. The ratio in this area dropped from 904 women per 1,000 men in 1991 to 846 per 1,000 in 2001.

“With the International Women’s day just days away, on March 8, these are the issues which need immediate attention,” Kumari said.

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