60 panchayats
honoured for improvement in sex ratio with Rs 1.5 lakh each
The declining sex ratio in Punjab has started
showing signs of improvement, with health officials claiming that it
had climbed up to 838 as per a 2009 survey, from 796 recorded in the
2001 Census.
The claims come barely three days after the
Union Child Development Ministry released India's Human
Development and Gender Report, castigating
Punjab for its poor child sex ratio.
The health officials on Monday claimed that
though the exact sex ratio would be known in the 2011 Census, the 2009
survey has revealed that the decline has been arrested and the steps
initiated by the state health depar-tment in this regard have started
yielding results.
For showing improvement in the sex ratio, the
state health department today honoured as many as 60 village
panchayats from all over Punjab, at a state-level function held here.
Each such village was awarded a certificate and
a cash award of Rs 1.5 lakh, the proceeds of which would be utilised
for the betterment of the village, empowering women and girls, besides
measures for further improving the sex ratio.
Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla lamented that
a progressive state like Punjab was still far behind in the sex ratio
and the girl child was unwelcome and not treated well.
She said instead of helping the parents of the
girl child with cash of Rs 5,000 at the time of birth, the state
government should make education easier for the girl child and focus
on the poor. Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was to chair
the function, could not make it to the venue from Delhi due to fog.
A captivating play, Sirjana, was also presented
by a theatre group from Amritsar.
Among the various village panchayats honoured,
Patiala and Ropar districts had 10 villages each, while there were
five each from Kapurthala and Mansa, and four each from Fatehgarh
Sahib and Bathinda.
