Date:03/12/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/12/03/stories/2006120310400300.htm

New Delhi

Campaign launched against female foeticide

Staff Reporter

CREATING AWARENESS: Students and social activists form a human chain during a rally against sex-selective abortions at India Gate in New Delhi on Saturday. Photo: Shanker Chakravarty

NEW DELHI: In memory of the one-crore female population that India lost owing to female foeticide over the past 20 years, students of Delhi University and social activists organised a candlelight vigil at India Gate here on Saturday and voiced their concern over the skewed male-female ratio in the country.

A large number people participated in the vigil and pledged their support to put an end to the practice of sex-selective abortions.

The students carried banners and posters depicting the alarming trend of fewer numbers of females compared with their male counterparts and exhorted society to join their movement.

Students of Lady Irwin College enacted a street play on the mindset of rural and urban households and the dangers of distorting the natural sex ratio.

"In 2001, the sex ratio in India stood at 927 girls per 1,000 boys. In Delhi, the situation was even more serious with only 868 girls per 1,000 boys. This ratio has dropped alarmingly since the last Census. Given such a sharp decrease in the past decade, the next generation of parents must be made a priority target in terms of sensitisation work," said the Centre for Social Research (CSR), which organised the event, in a statement.

"As per our campaign `Meri Shakti Meri Beti', we have launched a movement to help combat the problem of sex-selective abortion by encouraging student activism. It is important to work with current university students to shake up the nation's youth population and ensure their participation against such gender discrimination," it said.

The Centre for Social Research has been contacting student volunteers at Delhi University to build up an inter-college network and devise effective communication strategies to spread awareness about their campaign against female foeticide in their respective colleges.