WUNRN
Women's Feature Service
At the Kanya Dhoond Mahotsava held at the district headquarter in Barmer, Rajasthan, district collector Dr Veena Pradhan argued that if girls were given the opportunities, they would achieve as much or even more than boys. (Credit: Abha Sharma\WFS)
By Abha
Sharma
Barmer (Women's
Feature Service) – Who celebrates the birth of a girl child? In
More so in a state
like Rajasthan where some of its western districts have the infamous ritual of
breaking mud pots when daughter are born. These girls grow up in an environment
of discrimination, without proper health care or education. And since this
prejudice is part of the social norms and cultural practices, it is easily
transferred from one generation to the other, perpetuating a lifetime of
injustice.
There are even tales
of Bhati Rajput families drowning the newborn girls in water mixed with milk or
killing them with an overdose of opium. So the grave is the destination for
this region’s missing girls.
In 2010, when Panna
Singh's daughter, Shagun Kanwar, got married the otherwise normal ritual of the
arrival of a 'baarat' (marriage procession) in their Deora village, situated on
the Barmer-Jaislamer border, created headlines. It was only the second time in
12 years that the family had welcomed a 'baarat'. The first time was in 1998
when Shagun's cousin, Jayant Kanwar, had got married.
In such a hostile
terrain, however, the arrival of baby girls did not remain an unsung event this
year. The occasion was 'Kanya Dhoond Mahotsava' organised by the Pre conception
and Pre Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Cell, a state department set-up to
execute the provisions of the PCPNDT ACT, in association with the health
department and the Barmer district administration.
In Rajasthan,
traditionally the Dhoond (the local name for a demonic figure from whose evil
eyes the child is protected by worshipping the Holi fire) is an event to mark
the arrival of a baby boy. But, in a departure from the local custom, in March 2012
close to 150 mothers attended the colourful 'Kanya Dhoond Mahotsava' at
Barmer's Zila Swasthya Bhawan along with their newborn daughters. As the
festive folk melodies wafted through the air, it was a moment of joy and pride
for these women when their girls were garlanded and gifted toys and new
clothes.
Looking for ways to
create awareness on the declining sex ratio in the district, the PCPNDT Cell
hit on this novel idea last year. Rather than organising routine seminars where
discussions are limited to experts who deliberate on the critical need to save
the girl child, the border district opted to reach out to ordinary people by
asking families to be part of a 'mahotsava' to celebrate the birth of a girl
child. Said Vikram Singh Champawat, the district coordinator of the PCPNDT
Cell, "Girls are assigned an inferior status in our society and that is
why most of the rituals are meant to celebrate the arrival of boys only. We,
therefore, decided to make a new beginning by holding the Dhoond function for the
girl child."
Added Dr Azmal
Hussain, Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO), Barmer, "The main
objective of organsing such a festivity was to stop discrimination against the
girl child and help improve the declining sex ratio of our district."
To drive home the
need to balance gender disparity in society, posters with messages like, 'If
the sex ratio continues to decline by the present rate, where would you get
brides?', 'Fifty years on there will be just one girl to seven boys' and 'Save
the Girl Child and Stop Sex Selection' were put up at the function venue, even
as district collector Dr Veena Pradhan argued that if girls were given the
opportunities, they would achieve as much or even more than boys. "Main
bhi beti hoon aur aaj Collector hoon (even I am a daughter and today I have
become Collector)," she told the audience.
In Rajasthan, and
many other parts of the country, the Dhoond is an extension of the festivities
during the first Holi (in the month of March) after the birth of a boy. The
child is brought to the site of Holika dahan (where a ceremonial wood fire is
lit) to offer prayers to keep the evil spirits away. Gifts, toys, clothes,
popcorn and sweets are sent for the infant by the relatives from his maternal
side and his aunts. Later, the sweets, mostly ladoos, and popcorn are
distributed among friends and acquaintances.
Before organising the
Kanya Dhoond Mahotsava, the PCPNDT Cell, too, made extensive preparations.
"We publicised the event in local dailies and involved anganwadi and
health workers to identify baby girls less than one year old this Holi and
invited them to attend the Mahotsava," Champawat said.
While it didn't have
enough resources to promote and pull off such a large-scale event on its own,
Cairn
While the Dhoond
celebration may be a symbolic gesture on the part of the government, it's a positive
beginning nonetheless. Simple hard facts on the missing girls in the region
cannot be ignored any longer. As per the latest statistics, Barmer has the
sorry sex ratio of 899 females per 1000 males. It is, besides, one of the
country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640) and has to do a
lot on the literacy front as well - the average literacy rate currently is
57.49 per cent compared to 58.99 per cent in 2001. The female literacy figures
have seen a sharper decline – it has come down from 43.45 per cent to a
miserable 41.03 per cent, according to the latest Census.
The Barmer situation
mirrors that of the rest of the state. At 883 females per 1000 males Rajasthan
is among the states with lowest child sex ratio in
Apart from the Women
and Child Department of Barmer and other government bodies, some non-governmental
organisations are also working for the advocacy of the PCPNDT Act. For
instance, Vikalp Sansthan has been working in the rural areas to encourage
people to celebrate the birth of girl child by performing rituals like sounding
the 'kansi ki thali', 'badhai', 'namkaran sanskar' meant earlier only for boys.
Just last year, the NGO also felicitated nearly 40 newborn girls and their
mothers at a Balika Mahotsava.
Barmer's district
administration wants to make the Dhoond Mahotasava an annual tradition. Will its
echoes be heard all over the state and, particularly, in neighbouring district
of Jaisalmer that has an even lower sex ratio of 849 per 1000 males? Only time
will tell whether there's hope for a better future for the daughters of Thar
and, eventually, for all the girls of Rajasthan.