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“10 lakh cases of female foeticide every year”

AGAINST INJUSTICE: Women activists taking out a rally in Puducherry on Sunday.

PUDUCHERRY: Central Social Welfare Board chairperson Rajani Patil on Sunday expressed concern over the declining sex ratio in the country and stressed the need for looking at the sociological climate to understand the issue.

Speaking at a function held as part of a seminar on campaign on female foeticide here, Ms. Patil said that though the country had developed in various spheres, every year there were around 10 lakh cases of female foeticide.

Taking cognisance of this, the board and the Central government had for the past three years embarked upon a massive campaign, she said.

She appreciated Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu for showing improvement in the sex ratio.

Chief Minister N. Rangasamy said that the government was ready to implement any recommendation submitted to it by the Women’s Commission and the Social Welfare Board. He said that the root cause of the problem should be ascertained before initiating steps to tackle it.

In Puducherry, the sex ratio was 1,000:1,001 and the women were doing well on all fronts, Mr. Rangasamy said.

Social Welfare Minister M. Kandasamy said that of the 200 anganwadi centres given to the NGOs, only 25 per cent were functioning properly and the rest being run in a “commercial manner.”

The department had sent notices to all of them and if they did not start working properly by next month, the government would not hesitate to hand over the centres to members of self-help groups, he added.

The Minister also said that the department would hold programmes to create awareness of the evils of female foeticide all over the Union Territory on November 25.

Secretary to Social Welfare Department T.M. Balakrishnan, Member of Parliament M. Ramadass, MLA R. Viswanathan, Pondicherry State Social Welfare Board chairperson Jean Pourani and Pondicherry Women’s Conference president M. K. Sayeekumari also spoke.

Earlier in the day, an awareness rally was taken out with members of self-help groups.

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