Nawanshahr Model effective in controlling female foeticides

NAWANSHAHR: Nawanshahr is fast emerging as a torchbearer for the nation in curbing the menace of female foeticide. Government agencies and NGOs of the country are visiting the town every other day to acquaint themselves with the success story that the local NGO, Upkar Coordination Society and the district administration, has scripted in the matter in just a couple
of months.

Different NGOs including Voluntary Health Association of Punjab (VHAP), Chandigarh; Voluntary Health Association of India, New Delhi; Population Foundation of India, New Delhi and the State Health Department jointly organized a one-day workshop to have a glimpse of what has come to be known as ‘Nawanshahr model’ to contain femicide here at Shivalik Public School here today.

“The Nawanshahr Model will be implemented in other districts of the state soon,” said a visibly impressed Punjab Director, Health and Family Welfare Dr Harinder Rana. Talking about the implementation of the PC and PNDT Act in the state, she revealed that as many as 81 cases have been registered under the Act in the state so far while registration of nearly 164 scanning centers had been suspended for their alleged connivance in the femicide cases.


DC Krishan Kumar said that the carrot and stick policy of his administration and the intensive anti-femicide drive by the Upkar Coordination Society under which every single village of the district would be covered by May 21, has started yielding encouraging results. He revealed that in Kothran, a village in the district in which in 2004, 31 girls were allowed to take birth against 50 boys, thanks to the anti-femicide drive, sex ratio in 2005 improved to 33 boys for 44 girls. “During this month, three girls have been born as against the birth of only one baby boy in the village,” revealed Kumar through computer-generated visuals. “Keeping track of all pregnant women especially those already having female children, with the help of specially developed computer software also helped in a big way in checking female foeticide,” he added.

President, VHAP Manmohan Sharma promised to spread ‘Nawanshahr model’ in other
districts of Punjab through organizing seminars etc. Dr Almas Ali of Population of India said that their organization, which earlier laid stress on controlling population in the country, was now laying equal stress on the importance of containing femicide across the country.  Director, Ektra, Rekha, talked about the role of her organization on the issue of declining sex ratio in the country. Nodal Officer, PC and PNDT Act, Punjab, Dr V.K.Goel, Director, H.R.L.N.Chandigarh Veena Sharma, Civil Surgeon Nawanshahr Dr P.K.Mittal, Jaspal Gidda of Upkar were among those who spoke on the occasion. A cheque of Rs 3 lakh was presented to the DC by the state health director for the village Jullahmajra that has showed a sex ratio of 1123 females for 1,000 males.