Maidens bowl Kashmir over

SRINAGAR: Forty-nine-year-old businessman Noor Mohammad Nanda is proud of his three daughters. He is also proud that a new survey shows a considerably improved sex ratio in Jammu and Kashmir, giving a fillip to his constant support for the girl child in male-dominated Kashmiri society for the last 16 years.

“Our prophet has guaranteed a place in heaven for those who have daughters. A girl child is a blessing,” says Nanda, greatly encouraged by the findings of the 2006 sex ratio survey conducted by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics of the J&K government. According to the survey, the sex ratio (number of females per thousand males) in 2006 is 925 against 892 in 2001.

A breaking of stereotypes could have brought about the change. “Earlier, some people married a second time just to have a male baby. Now, they realise girls are no less than their male counterparts,” says Peer Mohammad Hussain, J&K minister of state for health.

Sociologists attribute the trend to a number of factors. “Kashmir is the only state where there is a 50 per cent reservation for women in government medical colleges,” points out sociologist Sheikh Khursheed-ul Islam, assistant professor at the Institute of Management and Public Administration.

The government is naturally upbeat about the scenario. “The new sex ratio will help us devise a strategy for women’s welfare,” says Hussain.