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Politics : Should God be replaced? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TigerPaw who wrote (21151)	7/11/2005 3:17:45 PM
From: one_less	Respond to of 28931

Predictable... Cash prize for whistleblowers to curb female foeticide in Gujarat A sharp decline in the sex ratio in Gujarat and the growing number of illegal sex-determination cases leading to female infanticide have forced the state government to step up measures to handle the situation In a move to curb the dwindling sex ratio the Gujarat government is planning to institute a cash prize for citizens who blow the whistle on doctors and parents who indulge in sex-determination tests aimed at eliminating foetuses in the womb. The move is being considered after Census 2001 data revealed that Gujarat, a so-called progressive and industrialised state, had an all-country low female-male sex ratio of 878 girls per 1,000 boys in the 0-6 age-group. Female foeticide (that takes place after the sex of the foetus has been determined by sonography) is considered to be the biggest single factor contributing to the alarming situation in Gujarat. Concerned authorities at the Health and Family Welfare Department are working on the cash-for-information plan and the amount of money that will be offered to people who come up with information. “Saving the girl-child is top priority with us. Instituting a cash prize will inspire people to come forward and give information about doctors and parents who indulge in sex-determination of the foetus,” says Health and Family Welfare Commissioner Dr Amarjeet Singh. Besides monetary incentives the state government is actively promoting the use of dummy patients to catch doctors involved in the misuse of sonographies. District health officers in over five districts have been instructed to start using dummy patients to book doctors who assist in the crime. The state government is also working on programmes to create social awareness about the issue so that people themselves refrain from resorting to such measures. The district health office in Ahmedabad used cable television to urge people to call a special helpline number to report cases of female sex-determination and foeticide. The results, however, have been far from encouraging: not a single person has called up so far. Officials at the health department are starting to believe that female foeticide is a result of a social nexus between the public and the medical fraternity. It is mandatory for hospitals and clinics in the state to register their sonography equipment and maintain a register of its use to check cases of female foeticide. But, says Aravind Pulikkal, state coordinator of the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF): “The law cannot work alone. People’s participation is essential and we have been urging religious leaders to take up the cause against female foeticide. The network can also be activated at primary health centres and at the health worker level to keep tabs on those indulging in sex-determination of the female foetus and female foeticide.” Source: PTI, December 13, 2004