Birth of girl here, spells joy, celebrations

Maharajganj (Uttar Pradesh, India), May 19: A first glance of Hatiagarh village located in Uttar Pradesh’s Maharajganj district, almost 500 kilometres from the state capital Lucknow may not reveal anything. However, as one explores it, interesting sociological trends, quite contrary to the present emerge.

The village, located almost 55 kilometres from the district headquarters is home to “Chamar Mangta”, a backward caste and it does not mourn the birth of girl. And this enlightenment is despite the fact that socio-economic backwardness reigns supreme in this remote hamlet.

Kisanwati, the village pradhan said, “The population of this community is nearly 100 in the village and there are about 25 such families. Though, they have been living here since generations, we have no idea, when they exactly came here. The village celebrates whenever a girl is born. Interestingly, if a male child is born there are no celebrations.”

The residents of the hamlet also have no idea from where their ancestors had migrated and for how long they were following this tradition. “For us girls are better than boys,” remarked Natthe, a member of the community, which is pre-dominantly nomadic and earns it livelihood by entertaining guests at different social functions.

“Even while bringing up, girls get more attention than boys,” Natthe said adding like other communities, girls perform domestic chores and the men folk discharge other duties.

Another interesting aspect of this remote hamlet is the prevalence of dowry. Though dowry system prevails in this community, it is exactly the opposite of what is followed elsewhere. “The dowry is paid to the family of the bride by the groom’s family,” said Rajaram, a senior member of the community.

The expenditure on the wedding function is also borne by the groom’s family.

“It is really unfortunate that in certain communities, people kill girls even before they are born,” said Kisanwati, when asked about the rising incidence of female foeticides in Uttar Pradesh and some other states in the country. “How could anyone do a thing like that? The girls are so lovely,” the village pradhan quipped.

Himanshu, a resident of Maharajganj is of the view that though this community is considered to be one of the most backward, as they are illiterate and survive on meagre incomes, they could be emulated by people from superior socio-economic segments.

“In a state like Uttar Pradesh, where the number of women per 1000 males has taken a sharp dip during the past decade, these comments should prove to be an eye-opener for those, who indulge in female foeticide,” he said.

According to India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the health indicators of Uttar Pradesh state that sex ratio of the state as per the 2001 census is 898, as compared to the national figure of 933.

As per the statistics released by Social Work for Mankind, an NGO, about 5-7 lakh girls a year or 2000 girls a day go missing in India due to female foeticide. The child sex ratio for the age group of 0-6 years is currently 927 per 1000 boys. Punjab has 798 girls, Haryana 819, Delhi 868 and Gujurat 883 per 1000 boys.

Some Female Foeticide cases:

In June 2007, a doctor was arrested for illegally aborting 260 female foetuses after police recovered bones and skulls from a septic tank in a maternity clinic in New Delhi.

On July 23, 2007 in Nayagarh district (Orissa) police had discovered 40 dead female infants in a dry well near a private clinic and within one month again from Bhubaneswar police got 30 cases of foeticides in 15 jars near the Forest Park.

From official record, it has estimated that in India everyday 7,000 female foeticides take place. Statistics reveal that as many as 10 million girls in India have been killed by their parents either before or immediately after birth over the past 20 years.