Beti nahi bachi

A government overtly perturbed with gender imbalance should be acutely surprised and alarmed that its much-trumpeted pink themes and grandiose campaigns to balance the sex ratio have borne little fruit. The ground reality remains as dismal as ever: the sex ratio has actually fallen in 17 out of 21 large states, according to a recent Niti Aayog report. The Prime Minister’s home state Gujarat takes the lead in the dip while Haryana, notorious for its deep-seated patriarchal attitudes, is the next in the unenviable list, recording a drop of 35 points and putting a grave question mark on the Khattar government’s earlier claims of a record increase in sex ratio.

Discouraging foeticide and abandonment of girl infants has always been tick-marked as a key social priority for the Modi government, at least on the surface. The fanfare behind the launch of the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao scheme in 2015 was followed by a massive social media campaign “Selfie with Daughter” and its “success” was touted as an indicator of a significant change in mindsets. Figures, however, tell a different story. A government study has projected a drop in sex ratio to 898 girls for 1,000 boys in 2031 from 939 in 2011. Disaffection towards the girl child manifests in many callous ways — from female foeticide to abandoning her — and the urban population is equally complicit. The data reveals that among families with two children, one-third have both boys while just one-sixth have both girls.

Government policies alone can’t fight what the Economic Survey has noted as the “meta preference” for sons. Society also needs to show a strong inclination to reverse the resultant ramifications. Haryana is struggling with a shortage of brides and crimes against women are on the rise. Rather than seeking refuge in “false” figures Haryana must ensure stricter implementation of the laws. For the Beti Bachao logo to have real meaning, programmes can’t just exist on paper alone or be restricted to photo-ops. Any talk of women empowerment is meaningless if girls are denied the basic right to be born and nurtured.