Kolkata: Your city does not care for girl child

Arnab Ganguly
[ 5 Sep, 2006 0304hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

KOLKATA: For Halishahar's Sonali Das, a second daughter was unwanted. So she killed and buried her newborn with her mother's help. From far-off Halishahar to tony Kolkata enclaves, the story is the same.

The girl child is redundant. The fact is reflected in the deteriorating male-female ratio across the city's wards.

If Halishahar and neighbouring Bidyadharpur register a paltry 951 and an astonishing 389 females per thousand males respectively, upmarket Bhowanipore and Gariahat in the city return equally dismal figures — 812 and 916 females per 1,000 males.

And these figures are only till 2001. In another five years, when the next census is due, the scenario may be far worse. Of the five instances of abandoned babies in the city in the past year, three were girls.

Many more did not make it to the headlines. Till 1991, however, the scenario was different. At least 17 wards then showed a healthy sex ratio of 1,000+ females per 1,000 males.

Take high-profile Gariahat (ward 68). There were 1,006 girls per 1,000 boys in 1991. By 2001, the number of girls was down to 916. In Bhowanipore, the number of girls per 1,000 boys in 1991 was 1,028.

In 10 years, the ratio was down to 812:1000. In the decade between 1991 and 2001, the city average itself fell from 955 to 927 girls per 1,000 boys. The trend has experts worried.

"More parents are keen to find out their child's sex while it is in the womb, particularly those who already have a daughter," said a leading gynaecologist. The introduction of regulations against sex determination has helped, say gynaecologists.

"The prescription specifies why USG was done. So, the ultrasonologists know that records are kept. But there is always the fear of para-clinical staff passing on the information for a few bucks," said another gynaecologist.

If some clinics in Kidderpore, Rajabazar and other areas have flourished, offering an "easy way out of unwanted pregnancy", availability of over-the-counter abortion pills has made it even easier to get rid of the unwanted child.

"But these drugs are dangerous. If someone takes the pill a second time, it can be life-threatening," said gynaecologist Gouri Kumra.