Satara decides ‘Nakusa’ is an unwanted name

In some parts of rural Maharashtra, if a girl is born when the parents wanted a boy, she is named ‘Nakusa’ or unwanted.
The Satara zilla parishad is now trying to bring about a change. It recently completed a survey and identified 222 such Nakusas, ranging from infants to 16 years of age. The zilla parishad in association with the Save The Baby Girl Mission (a project that seeks to save the female foetus from illegal sex determination), is trying to rename these girls on the occasion of International Women’s Day on March 8, 2011.

Speaking to DNA, Satara district health officer Bhagwan Pawar said that the name ‘Nakusa’ is discriminatory towards women. “Typically, if a rural couple has one or two girls, they dislike it when their third child also turns out to be a girl. They then name her ‘Nakusa’. Other derogatory names given to girls are ‘Dagadi’ and ‘Dhondi’ which means a stone,” Pawar said.

The zilla parishad decided to locate Nakusas in Satara after a discussion about the issue with Sudha Kankaria, ophthalmologist and president of Save The Baby Girl Mission.

With help from various departments, the zilla parishad found the 222 girls named Nakusas. While Patan taluka had the highest number of Nakusas (92), Koregoan and Wai talukas did not have any. The other Nakusas were spread out in Satara, Khandala, Phaltan and Khatav talukas, besides Maan, Karad, Mahabaleshwar and Jawali.

He said the name is a reflection of the patriarchal mindset of society and it indicates the anger of the parents on the birth of a girl-child. “Some of these girls told us that they feel ashamed whenever their name is called out in school or social and family gatherings.”

Pawar said efforts are now on to convince the parents to change the name which will be done with their consent and officially, through the government gazette.