JS-21.8
Gender Discrimination:Female Feticide,Infanticide and Leisurely Attitude Towards P.N.D.T.Act
Women consisting half of the human population have been treated as weaker sex in all the societies of India. They are victims of feudalistic institutional, traditional practices, cultural prejudices and religious extremism. The gender inequality is of grave concern to the issue of human development. According to UNICEF about 30 lacks case of female feticide are recorded every year. According to available statistics, about 12 million girls are born in India every year but 1.5 million girls die within one year. Another 0.85 million do not live to see their sixth birthday. Every sixth female death is specifically due to gender discrimination. It is alarming to note that India’s sex ratio among the children aged 0-6 years declined from 976 females (1000 males) in 1961 to 914 in 2011. It is lower than the overall sex ratio of 940 females for 1000 males in 2011. Many districts have been recorded sex ratio of female child lesser than 850.this is the most disappointing indicator of the census 2011.
This paper aims to identify various factors responsible for feticide and infanticide and the leisurely attitude of educated woman towards P.N.D.T Act 1994 and 2003.
This study is being conducted in Varanasi city famous for old traditions and religious beliefs. This paper is based on the study of 1000 educated women. I have also included secondary data taken from different reports. Interview Schedule is being used to assess the attitude of educated women selected by random sampling.
The paper concludes with some suggestions which can be utilized for solving the problem of declining sex ratio in not only India but also the countries facing the same problem. To protect the right of girl child is to restore the universal justice.