India's "lack" of girls

A recent study has noted the decline in the number of girls being born AND surviving in India. If this trend continues, there will be - in the not too distant future - a distinct lack of girls available for the ever growing male population. This will most likely manifest itself in the lack of available brides and a decline in population. Naturally, this would enhance the "value" placed upon girls - but would it necessarily ease the burden of the provision of a dowry that accompanies many marriages. With the possibility of a decrease in the number of brides available - maybe it will be the turn of the groom to provide a suitable inducement.

But what of the future for India's population on a whole - how will the decreasing level of girls impact upon the future of India. As I see it, this will seriously impact on the growth of India's population - it will stagnate and then seriously decline - a point from which there may be no turning back.

This subject has become one of great interest in the media in recent times:

From the BBC News:
"A report by the UK charity says increasing numbers of female foetuses were being aborted and baby girls deliberately neglected and left to die. In one site in the Punjab state, there are just 300 girls to every 1,000 boys among higher caste families, it says.

The document says that Indian woman are put under intense pressure to produce sons, in a culture that predominantly views girls as a burden rather than an asset. It says many families now use ultrasound scans and abort female foetuses, despite the existence of the 1994 law banning gender selection and selective abortion. Some 10 million female foetuses have been aborted in India in the past 20 years, the British medical journal the Lancet has said."

From VOA News:
"The report "Disappearing Daughters" has been conducted by ActionAid and Canada's International Development Research Center.

It says in three of five states surveyed, the number of girls had declined to less than 800 for every 1000 boys compared to the nationwide average of 950 girls. The report says the decline is happening in both rural and prosperous urban areas, showing that the preference for sons cut across economic and social classes.

The "Disappearing Daughters" report has called on the government to ensure tougher enforcement of laws to check the practice of aborting female fetuses. But it says that in the long term, cultural attitudes need to change."

From Yahoo News:
" The report called on the Indian government for tougher enforcement of laws banning pre-natal sex detection and sex-selective abortion, describing their efforts to implement the legisation so far as "woefully inadequate".

Attitudes towards girls as financial burdens for families because of dowry pressures also need to be challenged, while the quality of and access to public health care and state-run schools had to improved, it added.

The report said neglect in poorer areas with less access to public health facilities affected survival rates, but declining ratios in better-served urban areas was down to parental choices about the number and sex of offspring.

Birth order also affected girls' survival rates: all survey sites showed a decline in the number of girls among second-born children; in three sites there were fewer than 750 girls for every 1,000 boys."

The plight of girls in India is steadily reaching crisis point - and something needs to be done soon to address this issue - before it is too late.

Here's something to think about in the meantime - its an ancient Chinese "Song" - but highly relevant:

“When a son is born,
Let him sleep on the bed,
Clothe him with fine clothes,
And give him jade to play...
When a daughter is born,
Let her sleep on the ground,
Wrap her in common wrappings,
And give broken tiles to play...”