Noted Indian actress and former MP launches drive against female foeticide

Spearheading a campaign against female foeticide, noted actress and former Rajya Sabha MP Shabana Azmi has said that more than introduction of laws, there should be a 'tiered system' in society to bring about an attitudinal change to tackle the skewered sex-ratio.

"Statistics have belied the notion that education leads to awareness. We see that in supposedly affluent areas such as South Delhi and South Mumbai, the female sex ratio has dropped significantly. In an upmarket area like Colaba in South Mumbai, the ratio of girls to every 1000 boys born has dropped from 913 to 830," she told newspersons at a press conference on Saturday.

Ms Azmi was speaking at the launch of the 'Beti' awareness campaign against female foeticide, supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Stressing the need for strict implementation of laws, she said if the licence of doctors who indulged in sex determination were revoked, it would prove a serious deterrent, thus preventing such instances.

Speaking on the occasion, former Miss World Diana Hayden said it was necessary to educate people on the harms of a skewed sex-ratio, and said the onus was on the women to take a stand against female foeticide.

"We have already lost more than one crore girl children to this attitude since the last 20 years, we should put a stop to this," she said.

'Beti' has been launched by president of the Indian Television Academy, Anu Ranjan, and is supported by UNFP.

Source: The Pioneer.

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