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RAJYA SABHA
The Rajya Sabha was informed that the Chief Registrars of Birth and Death in the States/UTs have been asked to monitor the sex ratio at births based on birth registration under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969. It is their responsibility to implement the provisions of the Act.
The Minister of State for Home, Shri Manikrao Gavit told the House in a written reply that the Government have set the goal of achieving universal registration of births and deaths by the year, 2010 under the National Population Policy, 2000. In order to achieve this, Central Government have initiated various steps which inter-alia include regular monitoring of the levels of registration, providing assistance to the states for training and computerization and public measures to create public awareness.
The imbalance in child sex ratio is chiefly due to preference for a son resulting in female foeticide and continued neglect of girl child leading to higher mortality among them. In order to contain the practice of female foeticide, the Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Preventions of Misuse) Act, 1994 was put into effect from 1.1.1996. The Act has been amended since then and made more stringent. The responsibility of the implementation of the Act is with the States/UTs administration.
To bring about a change in the attitude towards girl child and to overcome general social prejudice against them, the Government of India has been advertising through the radio, television and print media to create awareness against the practice of pre-natal determination of sex and female foeticide. Workshop and seminars are being organized through voluntary organizations at the State and and sub-state levels for the same purpose. Help and cooperation has been sought from religious leaders as well as medical fraternity to curb this practice. In addition the Government has been implementing the scheme of “Balika Samridhi Yojna” since 1997 with multi-purpose objectives of changing the negative family and community attitude towards the girl child, for improving their enrolment in schools and for raising their age at marriage. In the Ninth Plan 23,13,112 girl children has benefited from the scheme.
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