Why should boys have all the fun? For a change, the girls too are in the reckoning at least in the restive Jammu and Kashmir. Stung by alarmingly declining sex ratio, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed led PDP-BJP government has decided to contribute Rs 1,000 per month on behalf of every new born girl for the next 14 years in a bid to provide financial security to the female child. The girl would receive Rs 6.5 lakh from the government when she turns 21 in the state.
Why should boys have all the fun? For a change, the girls too are in the reckoning at least in the restive Jammu and Kashmir. Stung by alarmingly declining sex ratio, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed led PDP-BJP government has decided to contribute Rs 1,000 per month on behalf of every new born girl for the next 14 years in a bid to provide financial security to the female child. The girl would receive Rs 6.5 lakh from the government when she turns 21 in the state.
What is the sex ratio of Jammu and Kashmir?
Jammu and Kashmir has one of the worst sex ratios in the country. According to 2011 census female sex ratio (females per 1000 males) has fallen to 889 from 900 in 2001. Similarly the child sex ratio has
fallen to 862 in 2011 from 964 in 2001 in Jammu and Kashmir. The national average female sex ratio is 943 and child sex ratio is 919. Leh is second district in the country which has the lowest sex ratio at 690 after Daman with 534. Kargil with 810 is at number eight in the top 10 districts, which have worst sex ratios in the country.
"According to the census of 2011, J&K has exhibited a fall in the sex ratio to 889. What is alarming is that the child sex ratio (6 – 10 years) has shown a very rapid decline. Among a host of interventions,
financial security of the girl child holds paramount, as it creates a positive disposition towards the girl child," said Haseeb A Drabu, J&K finance minister, while presenting his maiden budget on
Sunday.
What is government doing to improve the sex ratio?
Drabu proposed to contribute Rs 1,000 per month on behalf of every new born girl child for the next 14 years. "On reaching 21 years she would receive around Rs 6.5 lakhs," he said. The scheme will be applicable for girl child born after April 1, 2015. Jammu and Kashmir would be introducing this scheme in six districts with worst sex ratio, as a pilot project. The government has earmarked Rs 35 crore for the scheme in the first phase.
How many girls would be benefited?
"On an average, every year about one lakh girls are born in the state. Even if we cover one third of this population, i.e. 30,000 girls across six districts, the total annual outgo would be Rs 35 crore.
Accordingly, I am proposing this amount and hope it will be continued for the next 14 years for every girl child born after April 1, 2015, in six districts of the state exhibiting low and declining child sex
ratio", said Drabu.
What are experts saying?
Experts say apart from financial incentives, the behavioural and attitudinal changes are paramount to improve the sex ratio in Jammu and Kashmir. "Financial incentives may solve some of the problems. The basic thing is attitude and the behaviour pattern of the people. Financial innovations are ok but at the same time social awakening and voluntary action on part of the parents is must," Bashir Ahmad Dabla, professor of sociology at University of Kashmir, told dna.
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