Improve sex ratio: President Pratibha Patil to Punjab

Concerned at the extremely skewed sex ratio in Punjab (841 women per 1,000 men), president Pratibha Patil made an impassionate appeal to the people of the state on Wednesday to reverse the ominous trend and put an end to female foeticide.

Speaking at a function organised by ‘Nanhi Chhaan’ (elfin shade), a charitable trust run by Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal, the president took exception to the fact that Punjab had been excelling in so many fields, but had disgraced itself by not checking heinous incidents of female foeticide.

Harsimrat launched the project in 2008 to campaign against female foeticide and denudation of Punjab’s green cover.

The president said the unhealthy imbalance in the sex ratio could lead to many social disorders and crimes in society. “We need to change the mindset that treats the birth of a female child as a matter of shame. It should be accorded as much respect as the birth of a baby boy would get,” Pratibha said.

The president said mothers committing female foeticides were inhuman and of sick minds. This, she said, might have been bred due to compulsions of dowry that were linked to the birth of a daughter. There was a need to address the menace of dowry system as well, Pratibha said.