Urging the participation of every citizen in empowering the girl child, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Monday that the action must begin at home, in our families and in our communities. “I do not say this as the Prime Minister of the country. I say this as the proud father of three daughters. I wish for every girl in our country what I wish for my own daughters,” said the PM, addressing a national meeting on “Save the Girl Child”.

Describing the practice of female foeticide as most inhuman, uncivilised and reprehensible, Dr Singh underlined that the societal discrimination against women begins even before the girl child is born. “The patriarchal mindset and preference for male children is compounded by unethical conduct on the part of some medical practitioners assisted by unscrupulous parents who illegally offer sex determination services,” he added.

He asserted that no nation, society or community could hold its head high and claim to be part of the civilised world if it condones the practice of discrimination against one half of humanity. “We are an ancient civilisation and we call ourselves a modern nation. And yet, we live with the ignominy of an adverse gender balance due to social discrimination against women built into our societal structures,” he said.

The Census figures illustrate that the problem is more acute with richer states like Punjab, which has only 798 girls per 1000 boys, Haryana 819, Delhi 868 and Gujarat 883 girls. “Our record in female literacy is far from satisfactory as the last Census recorded only 54% female literacy in the country. The last Census again showed a declining child sex ratio. This is a national shame and we must face this challenge squarely here and now,” he said. It indicates that growing economic prosperity and education levels have not led to a corresponding mitigation of the problem,” he said.

... contd.