TNI Bureau: Odisha government has expressed its deep concern for the considerable decline of sex ratio in the state. The ratio declined to 934/1000 in 2011 against 953/1000 in 2001.
Odisha State Legal Services Authority, department of health and family welfare in association with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) recently organized a discussion in the capital involving the district collectors of the state where guests expressed their concern about the rapid decline of the gender ratio in the state, which implies that sex determination tests and sex selective eliminations are profoundly present in the state.
Inviting the district collectors to curb the menace of woman related harassments, Chief Minister Navin Patanaik asked for strict implementation of the Pre-conception and Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (PC and PNDT) Act 1994.
Patnaik also urged to get ready against cultural, economic and religious roots of the woman related social malady through women empowerment and intensive information, education and communication campaigns taking the help of the departments of health, women and child development, panchayati raj, PRIs, SHGs, ASHAs, anganwadi workers and youths to work towards promoting the value of the girl child.
V Gopala Gawda, Chief Justice of Odisha High Court while analyzed the benefits of equality and equal opportunity provided in Article 14 and 15 respectively, he criticized practice of sex determination test.
Gawda reportedly mentioned the percentage of sex determination to be only 2 percent in the rural Odisha while it is mostly prevalent in the urban areas. He urged the districts collectors to approach people to create awareness and wanted the judicial officials to see that culprits are nabbed.
As per census 2011, number of children below six years in Odisha is 50.35 lakh, out of which, 26.03 lakh are boys and 24.32 lakh are girls. It also reveals that several of the districts even have the sex ratio of less than 900 girls as compared to 1000 boys at birth.
Further, 2011 census report provides that Nayagarh district has the lowest sex ratio of 851 followed by Dhenkanal at 870, Angul 884, Ganjam 899 and Khurda 910.