SAVE GIRL CHILD

Education and training helps the woman to hone her talents. She can earn more money. Women have the ability to put the money earned in further education. They also spend the money of better healthcare for children and families. Men on the other hand are spendthrifts. When they earn they spend it on vices and make hell for their families. The economic status of the woman gives her a better social understanding. An educated woman is likely to defend herself better than an illiterate one against men, crimes and abuse. Once she knows her rights she can also approach the courts. Many daring women have taken such recourse to bring men to task.

It is only a woman who understands that weather a male or female child, it should be healthy and given equal status. A woman has the power to end the evil of dowry system also.  As girls are given a chance to live there will be control in population. Families will be small, healthy better educated and happy. Today’s woman has to be given the confidence to live. She will eventually be a balanced mother. The craving for the ubiquitous male heir has to vanish. Discrimination between the male and female child have to end for ever. Educated Indians have to behave responsibly and set an example for one another.

The Ministry for Welfare of Woman and Child in India says, ‘don’t kill your girl child. We will look after her.’ It is an embarrassment for all of us if we fail to protect the rights of the girl child. India has examples of women who have risen from the ashes like phoenix and done the country proud. India can be poised and shining only if the girls are given an opportunity to prove their talents. In education they have been toppers consistently against boys. A girl is like a flower to be nurtured.

She is a goddess to be revered. She is mother earth that sustains the very breath of humanity. How can man even think of killing her in the womb? It is said in the Bhagwat Gita that the karma of the past catches up.  For those who have killed their daughters mercilessly they will go through the same fate. But the woman whose tender heart continues to nurture will still give a chance to evil to redeem. Unless India gives women a chance to survive, it would fail as the world’s largest democracy.

Because i am a GIRL??

Female feticide and infanticide are the most popular social evils prevailing in the country. This evil is the outcome of poverty, illiteracy and gender discrimination. The country fails to understand, how a mother can be so ruthless and vulnerable. It is said that God created mothers because He could not be present everywhere. Its unbelievable to realize that a God’s representative is continuously killing someone beautiful even before she can come out and see the beauty of nature.

It’s painful to confess that the trend still exists in various parts of the country. States like Maharashtra, Haryana, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Punjab are most popular for practicing female foeticide and infanticide.

Poverty, gender discrimination and son preference have also influenced the nutritional status of a girl child. There are almost 75 million malnourished children existing in the country. It is estimated that 75% of the total malnourished children are girls who show signs of chronic and acute malnutrition.

Girls who manage to cross this hard phase of life, gets trapped by the evil society during adolescence and teenage. These are the stages where more nutrition is required for normal growth and development. Unfortunately, nutritional needs are neglected for girls and they are often kept locked within the four walls.

Exacerbate discrimination against female for nutrition and education has led to an increase in child marriage, reduction in fertility rates and population growth, potentially, women’s participation in nurturing the future of every nation.

Improper nutrition during adolescence results in various reproductive health disorders. The effects of these disorders further exacerbates by early marriage, closely spaced pregnancies, poor access to information about family planning, traditional practices, etc.

Girl child is the future of every nation and India is no exception. A little amount of care, a handful of warmth and a heart full of love for a girl child can make a big difference. Close your eyes, free your thoughts and hear the voice of God, He is saying something to all of us, “Save Me”.
The fact that girls are being murdered quietly after sex determination tests, what can one say of rights of girl child in India? As per UNICEF guidelines the girl child must get equal opportunities to education, medicine, healthcare facilities and workplace.

Although the democratic constitution and laws state there have to be equal and full opportunities, the girl child, if she survives barley gets to see her 15th birthday. Out of the 15 million baby girls born in the country, every year nearly 25% of them do not reach their 15th birthday.
India has been one of the first countries to introduce family planning in 1952. The tragedy lies in the misconception that a male heir is all that is needed. But how many people realise that to have the male heir, a woman is needed to reproduce. Biologically she is the carrier of the child.

In many homes across the country, girls are treated with indifference. Daughters are considered as liabilities. Outside one sex determination clinic in Haryana, it was written, pay Rs. 50 now rather than pay Rs. 50, 000 later (as dowry). Women have no power themselves even though they have legal recourse. It takes guts for a woman to stand up against her husband, in-laws or parents if she meets with dowry problems or sexual violence.  Child marriages restrict the girls and their rights. There is malnutrition, poverty, high illiteracy and infant mortality ailing the society today in India. Only 40-50 percent women get antenatal care. In Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharastra, Orrisa and Gujarat the registration for health services for mother and child are low (5-22% in rural) and (21-51% in urban) areas.

A pregnant woman is dependent on the mother-in-law and husband for any treatment that she needs. Atrocities against women has risen. Every 26 minutes a woman is molested. Every 34 minutes a rape takes place. Every 42 minutes a sexual harassment incident occurs. Every 43 minutes a woman is kidnapped. And every 93 minutes a woman is burnt to death over dowry. One-quarter of the reported rapes involve girls under the age of 16 but they are never reported.

The government’s initiative of saving the girl child has started with a ‘palna’ (rocking cradle). It is not a rocking scheme. The NGOs and other agencies working to save the girl child from becoming victims of infanticide feel this could be a way that parents who give birth to the girl and leave it in the government’s care! The scheme has sent wrong signals to poor parents! In Tamil Nadu where the scheme started off has not been so successful.

Girl child education in India : The constitution guarantees free primary school education for boys and girls up to 14 years of age. But till today, only 39% of girls and 64% of boys get education in Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. If women teachers were increased chances are that girls in rural areas would continue to study. As girls get enlightened, they will raise better families.
India is one of the few countries where selective sex gender bias exists till today. The onslaught of feminism has not allowed Indian women to revolt against the century old systems. For centuries together women have played their roles of being the provider and sustainers of families without even a thank you note at the end of their lives. It has been proven in India and other countries where ever women have been given freedom they have changed the world and made a better place to live in. Consider these facts: